Klang, Malaysia – A land dispute in Klang, near Malaysia’s largest port, is stalling the completion of a highway touted as an alternative to the North-South Expressway that connects the Thai and Singapore borders.

The continued delay to the West Coast Expressway (WCE) has led to increased travel time for heavy vehicles and threatens to undermine investor confidence in Malaysia’s ability to deliver infrastructure projects on schedule, said the Association of Malaysian Hauliers on Sept 26.

Announced in 2012 with an estimated cost of RM7.07 billion (S$2.17 billion), the WCE aims to connect major coastal towns along Peninsular Malaysia from Banting in Selangor to Taiping in Perak.

Originally slated for completion by 2019, the highway was intended to ease congestion on the North-South Expressway and boost links to Port Klang, one of the busiest container terminals in South-east Asia.

But the project has missed several completion deadlines, partly due to land acquisition issues. While the 233km highway is about 95 per cent complete, the delay continues due to an unresolved fight over a 150m stretch of land in Kampung Jawa, a village in Klang district.

Although this is the only land dispute linked to the WCE that is unresolved, another section of the highway – around 30km long – is also yet to be completed due to soft soil conditions. The highway is now expected to be ready by the end of 2026.

The dispute centres on some 1.8ha of land in Kampung Jawa. While the federal government has acquired the land, 19 landowners are contesting the compensation offered to them.

Just across the main road from Kampung Jawa, the half-built WCE has a flyover that rises before ending abruptly in mid-air. Roadworks are ongoing along the main road nearby.

Mr Chandra Kumar, 41, a digital product trainer at a bank, said his 82-year-old father bought their family’s 10,500 sq ft plot in the village in 1968.

He said the family home and a storeroom on their land were demolished by contr...