SUNGAI BESI, Sept 19 -- Over 95 percent of respondents in an online survey have objected to the Taman Tugu rainforest park project, PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said today.
In a survey done by the Pandan MP on Facebook and other websites, he found that from 1,049 respondents, 95 percent disagreed with the RM650 million project in the city by state-owned Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
"Over 95 percent of respondents disagreed with this plan and they all have read the explanation from Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar but remain unconvinced. I believe the message is clear that the people are rejecting the Taman Tugu project," he said during a press conference today, referring to Khazanah managing director Azman.
The PKR secretary general added that there were suggestions in the survey for the federal government and Khazanah to invest in other public projects instead of a park.
"Around 712 voters responded that the money should be used for other people's welfare issues, whereas 205 responded that this project was just to make money for certain parties," Rafizi explained.
The survey, which consisted of 10 multiple choice questions, was posted by the Pandan MP on his Facebook page as well as on several other websites, including the National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW) page.
Rafizi said he would also be writing to Azman about the findings of the survey and would also set up a team of professionals to look into the cost of the project.
"So far 56 people have registered to be volunteers to join the cost measuring team, which would comprise of cost researchers including engineers, surveyors, architects and more," he explained.
Azman confirmed last week that the expected cost for the conservation of 1,000 existing trees and transplanting of 5,000 trees will only come up to about 5 per cent of the total cost, or roughly RM32.5 million.
Construction is expected to start as early as the first quarter of next year, with the park slated for completion in 2018, the walkways and learning centre in late 2019 or early 2020 respectively.
Khazanah Nasional previously said it is contributing RM500 million out of the RM650 million cost for the Taman Tugu project for corporate social responsibility purposes, and not for profit.
