Semantan valuer tells court government valuation for 1956 Duta enclave land is flawed

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 AUGUST 2026 —

A certified valuer told the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday that the government’s assessment of a 263.272-acre parcel in the Duta enclave was fundamentally flawed.

“This shows the surroundings were developed at that time and must be considered when valuing the development potential of the subject property,” Foo told the court.

He said the government valuer’s statements lacked independent verification and should carry no weight in the proceedings.

Foo also highlighted a contradiction in the government’s position. The government cited Wragg’s view that the land lacked “immediate potential” even though it acquired the exact parcel to build a diplomatic enclave, arguing that nearby land would benefit from the rebranding from rubber estate to an elite area.

Wragg, Malaysia’s first chief valuer, laid the groundwork for the national valuation profession in the mid-1950s; his appraisal, the Wragg Report, remains a key historical reference.

At the time of acquisition in December 1956, the land was a rubber estate in Selangor with pockets of development nearby in what is now Bukit Tunku. The government contended that because part of the land lay outside Kuala Lumpur’s municipal boundary, its value should be lower and no compensation or injurious affection was payable.

Foo rejected this argument. “The government valuer’s contention that the Kuala Lumpur boundary did not shift and therefore the status quo of the remaining land remained unchanged is an incorrect interpretation,” he said.

He told counsel Ira Biswas that assigning a lower value merely because a portion fell in Selangor instead of Kuala Lumpur was not accepted valuation practice.

“There is no valuation standard that requires such a method,” Foo said.

In his report to Judge Roslan Mat Nor, Foo submitted that comparable land sales in the area at the time put the market value between RM5,879 and RM6,000 per acre. Based on the 263.272-acre plot, this amounts to between RM1.547 million and RM1.579 million.

The estate was previously compensated RM5,282 per acre by the Selangor government. It had sought RM13,000 per acre during the original inquiry hearings before accepting RM1.32 million under protest. The court later ruled the pre-Merdeka compulsory acquisition unlawful and ordered compensation at 1956 market rates plus mesne profit for unlawful occupation.

Mesne profit is being assessed separately before Judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh, now a Court of Appeal judge; the parties are in mediation. The estate claims between RM3.1 billion and RM13 billion, while the government has offered RM290 million.

Semantan Estate, under voluntary liquidation, is represented by Janet Chai Pei Ying and Alexie Ng Ying Ching of Messrs Chooi & Co. Senior federal counsel Nurhafizza Azizan will cross-examine Foo when the trial resumes on Aug 21.

Related: Kuala Lumpur