Land Acquisition Process for ECRL Project in Selangor Progressing Smoothly – Loke
KUALA LUMPUR: The land acquisition process for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Selangor is progressing well and smoothly, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He stated that currently, the land acquisition process is focused on the final section of the rail alignment near the Klang district, which involves high-density areas.
Loke is confident that this process can be completed on schedule with the cooperation of the state government, along with the experience of the contractor company that has successfully completed land acquisitions in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang previously.
“It is common for landowners to be dissatisfied initially, requiring explanations or perhaps adjustments to compensation values. This is normal.
“I am confident that any issues arising from land acquisition will be compensated fairly,”
Loke said that so far, the state governments involved have provided good cooperation to the ECRL project contractor, China Communications Construction (ECRL) Sdn Bhd (CCC-ECRL), in resolving the issues.
“The state governments play the most significant role in resolving land acquisition issues because they (the state governments) also recognize that this project will be beneficial and advantageous to their respective states,” he said.
He added that overall, the 665-kilometer rail construction project is progressing according to schedule, with the alignment in the east coast entering the station construction phase.
He mentioned that the most critical part of the ECRL construction, the 16.39-kilometer Genting Tunnel crossing the Titiwangsa Range, has now reached 30 percent completion and will take more than a year to finish.
The ECRL is a railway infrastructure project developed to enhance connectivity between the east coast states (Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang) and the west coast states (Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, and the Federal Territory of Putrajaya), which are currently only partially connected by rail services.
