Sentul police quarters make way for MRT line

Some 270 families, who have been living in the 40-year-old Sentul police quarters, here, will move to new apartments with larger-sized units and modern facilities by December next year.

The demolition work of the old quarters, comprising two 16-storey blocks, has been going on since June to make way for the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line as the quarters' foundations are in the way of the ongoing SSP Line underground tunnel project.

MRT Corp SSP Line project director, Datuk Amiruddin Ma'aris said all the 270 families were now relocated to temporary housing in Setapak while waiting for the completion of the new police quarters in Taman Keramat AU, here.

"Their temporary housing is paid for by the project owner and they are provided with assistance, such as school buses for their children to get to school.

"The new quarters, at 1,200 sq ft each, will be more spacious with three bedrooms compared to the old quarters at 800 sq ft with two bedrooms," he said at a media briefing on the progress of the quarters demolition, today.

Amiruddin said the new quarters would have a modern look with facilities such as surau, shops, kindergarten and a community hall.

On the construction of the SSP Line, Amiruddin said the overall construction progress was at 13.7 percent and proceeding according to schedule.

He said tunnelling works were expected to begin by the first quarter of next year.

"Preparations for the launching of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are being carried out, the refurbishment of eight TBMs used for the first line is almost completed and the TMBs will be delivered to the respective sites by the year-end," he said.

Asked on the progress of demolishing Ampang Park, Amiruddin said it would be done by next year and he hoped all traders would vacate the building by the end of this year.

The SSP Line is the second line of the Klang Valley MRT project that would serve as a corridor with a population of around two million people stretching from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya.

The approved alignment is 52.2km with 35 stations, of which 11 are underground stations. -- Bernama