KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 15): Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has denied that it has approved developments in the city illegally.

“All development projects in Kuala Lumpur must go through DBKL’s planning committee.

“The projects must be vetted by the One-Stop Centre (OSC). This is mandatory [for approval]. There are no illegal projects,” Mayor Amin Nordin Abd Aziz told The Malaysian Insight news portal today.

Yesterday, the same news portal reported civil group Selamatkan KL or Save KL (SKL) head Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said DBKL has been approving development projects illegally. (Read the story here)

Amin said private landowners who want to develop land must make submissions to DBKL.

“We will have to bring it to the OSC for approval. If they do not get the approval. We will stop the project for sure.

“All projects must have planning approval. That is our standard operating procedure.”

Amin also explained to The Malaysian Insight that DBKL engages with different organisations on the developments in Kuala Lumpur.

“If the group thinks that the city is overdeveloped, we have been having meetings with the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) every two months.

“We will discuss the developments in Kuala Lumpur and compare them with other cities in Asia such as Bangkok and Jakarta.

“Compared to these cities, our density is still low per capita,” he said.

Amin said that because of the low density, high-rise buildings were a priority.

“Our population is low. So what they (SKL) are talking about doesn’t make sense.

“We have been constantly engaging with Pemudah and they have been supporting us.”

Abdul Aziz of SKL said the group was angry over new projects in densely populated suburbs.

He had said that DBKL altered development plans without going through the proper legal process and failed to approve the city’s local plan within a reasonable time, The Malaysian Insight reported yesterday.

Abdul Aziz added that DBKL had approved altered development plans, such as changing of land status, and it had not approved the local plan according to the requirements of the law.