By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Work has started on the demolition of part of the landmark Pudu Jail, to make way for a road expansion and tunnel project.
The new tunnel road will allow motorists to bypass the crossroads next to the old prison, now closed for several years.
“We started demolishing the prison last Thursday. We will be building a tunnel that will end just before the traffic lights turning into Puduraya,” said Syahrul Nizam, a technical assistant for Kuala Lumpur’s City Hall (DBKL).
According to Syahrul, the project is expected to cost RM83 million and will be completed by September 2011.
When asked who owned the rights to the prison land and what would happen to the remainder of the land that was not used, Syahrul was tight-lipped.
The Malaysian Insider understands, however, that UDA Holdings Sdn Bhd had bought over the land from the government and are planning to build a shopping mall on the location.
“Pudu Jail belongs to UDA. UDA bought over the land from the government. A small part will be used to build a road/tunnel to lessen the traffic flow of the heavily congested area.
“The remainder of the jail site will be used by UDA to construct a mix-development shopping mall/residential buildings, something similar to Berjaya Times Square,” said Sudirman Kamal, an engineer from Khairi Consult Sdn Bhd, an engineering consultancy firm.
The firm was appointed by DBKL to oversee, design and supervise the road development project.
Pudu Jail was built in 1895 by state engineer Charles Edwin Spooner as a prison to house criminals, including drug offenders.
The estimated cost of the prison at the time was RM327,627.
After operating for more than 90 years, it was closed following the 1986 execution of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, both Australian nationals. They were convicted for trafficking in heroin and were sentenced to death.
It was reopened in 1997-1998 as a museum and briefly in 2004.
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More traffic jams + haunting case... :)