Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): The residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) have come together again to stage a protest this morning at Taman Rimba Kiara (TRK), against the proposed development at the park.

In his speech, TTDI Residents’ Association (RA) chairman Abdul Hafiz Abu Bakar said the issue is of interest not just to residents of TTDI, but also the public in general.

“We found out Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) has approved the building of a sales gallery, three days later after the public dialogue was held.

“Hence, we are here today to send a message to the Federal Territories (FT) Minister — enough is enough!” he declared, which was met with strong cheers from the crowd of over 200 people.

Hafiz added that the TTDI residents are not against development, but would like such developments to be responsible.

“You don’t just simply take a park and turn it into a condominium. So, our requests to the FT Ministry remain — cancel the development order and return the plot to TRK.

“And, immediately gazette TRK as a public park. Also, fulfil the promise of building permanent housing for the long-house residents at their current site of residence.

“For the property developer, I wish to appeal to their conscience so that they would do the right thing – do not build,” he added.

In a public dialogue session titled "Bicara Rakyat @ TTDI" held on Nov 3, FT Minister Datuk Seri Utama Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has insisted that the proposed mega development comprising blocks of high-rise homes is not encroaching TRK.

To this, Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group lead strategist and coordinator Leon Koay said it is a lie and falsehood from DBKL.

“TRK starts at Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad and spans across 25 acres. And now, what will be taken if the development is to take place is about 12.5 acres. What type of developer is this? This is about making lives liveable with green spaces,” he said.

Koay also reiterated that there is a conflict of interest in terms of the land alienation that was done without public notice, which converted PT 9244 along Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad next to TRK to private land.

“We’re questioning the validity of the land alienation and to quash the development order. We’ve encountered strong opposition from the property developer and Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP), who claims to be the landowner.

“YWP is supposed to be a quasi-public organisation and guess who is the chairman of YWP – the FT Minister. And the Kuala Lumpur mayor is on the board of YWP as well.

“So, the landowner has applied to develop the land and submitted it to themselves for approval. Clearly, there is a question about conflict of interest. Where is the transparency?” he said.

On Friday (Nov 24), The Sun Daily reported an opposition lawmaker had lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the issue, citing that the FT Ministry had failed to protect the 25-acre green lung by transferring the land ownership for development.

The proposed development involves the building of eight blocks of 42- and 52-storey high-end serviced apartments (1,766 units) and a 29-storey affordable housing block (350 units), thus increasing the population density in the area from 74 persons per acre to 979.

It also involves the construction of a six- to eight-lane highway. A total of 2,116 units of homes will be built.

Residents of TTDI were granted leave by the KL High Court to pursue a judicial review against DBKL and the KL mayor on Aug 23.

The judicial review requests an order from the court to quash the condition planning permission and development order granted by DBKL to property developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd, which Malton Bhd holds a 51% stake in, on Feb 28, 2017 and July 13, 2017, respectively.

The hearing for the stay application to suspend the development until the end of the judicial review is fixed at Dec 13, 2017.

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