KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will focus on planning infrastructure development in the Malay reserve land (MRL) areas so that they are not left behind in terms of development.

Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said that the move was to ensure that the MRL areas such as Kampung Sungai Penchala, Segambut and Taman Datuk Keramat are on a par with development in the surrounding areas.

He said that usually there will be disparity in terms of development between MRL and non-MRL areas, as there are several private investments in the non-MRL areas, and the government is improving infrastructure while land owners are also developing their own properties.

"While for MRL areas, some owners did not invest or do not want to develop the land, then the infrastructure is not upgraded and eventually there will be villages left behind in the city.

"Hence, I want the departments involved in planning, including DBKL, the land office and so on, to change their approach to focus on the development of MRL areas and traditional villages," he told reporters after visiting Kampung Sungai Penchala here today.

Meanwhile, Annuar, referring to his recent meeting with the Finance Minister, said that his ministry agreed to use data from the Implementation and Coordination Unit between National Agencies (LAKSANA), in dealing with incomplete data on urban poverty issues.

"Based on our experience, the data (on urban poverty) available is not standardised. There is data from the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP), there is DBKL data and there is data also from e-Kasih.

"Hence, we have agreed to use the LAKSANA database, and all other agencies will provide information to LAKSANA so that a cross-check can be done in a focused manner, and no more groups are left behind," he said.

Earlier, Annuar was one of the leaders to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Kuala Lumpur Health Clinic at about 10.05 this morning.

"Everything went well, the injection was almost painless, I expected more pain actually but there was hardly any pain," said Annuar, who expected to receive the second dose on March 23.

The Ketereh MP also called on the community to immediately register for the vaccination through the MySejahtera application.

-- BERNAMA