Kuala Lumpur City Hall must act swiftly to release assessment reports on development projects which it has approved in line with greater transparency and to allow residents to object to developments in their neighbourhoods.
For example is a plot of land near Desa Putra Condo in the Setiawangsa Parliamentary Constituency, which was meant to be for residential development has been approved for commercial development. What people are upset about is how exactly did this happen.
Residents were unable to obtain any Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) or even Developmental Impact Assessment (DIA) reports when they made their objections.
The residents had brought to my attention an attempt to justify the development as a ‘Transport Oriented Development (TOD)’, without providing any directive or guidelines as to how this alleged policy would be implemented.
Any TOD must take into consideration the existing population density as well as existing development projects currently underway that has already added to the density of an area.
In Desa Putra’s case, they are already hemmed in by Wangsa 9 (3 blocks, 565 units overall, 48 storeys) and the Hamilton (42 storeys, 435 units overall).
The area is also sloped and there had been mudslides in the past.
There must be zero tolerance for cutting corners.
If a development is contrary to the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020, it must not be approved. It is clear and simple. If this is to be challenged, then the residents must be given their right to object effectively.
As I have mentioned before including in Parliament, I urge the Federal Territories minister Khalid Samad to gazette the plan as quickly as possible.
NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD
SETIAWANGSA MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
