KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Residents of Taman Tiara Titiwangsa urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today to investigate the Kuala Lumpur City Plan (KLCP) 2020 over what they viewed as drastic and irregular departures from its predecessor.
Spokesman N. Sylvester said they wanted clarity over the authorities’ justification for the changes from the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan (DKLCP) 2008 that were also made without the legally required public consultations.
“We want the MACC to investigate why and how changes of zoning and density on Lot 9885, Taman Tiara Titiwangsa were made in the KLCP 2020 without due process.
“The changes reflected on the recently gazetted KLCP 2020 are inconsistent with the DKLCP 2008,” Sylvester said after lodging the report at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya today.
Sylvester was accompanied by lawyer LS Leonard and Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) research officer Lalitha Kunaratnam.
While the DKLCP was prepared in 2008 following full public consultation and objection as required by the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982, Sylvester said the FT minister and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) proceeded to gazette the KLCP 2020 last October without revisiting either.
The move was made more objectionable as the KLCP included new plans that Sylvester argued were never subject to public review or feedback.
According to Sylvester, these included massive departures to land use categorisations, zoning and density limits contained in the DKLCP, especially for his Taman Tiara Titiwangsa.
He pointed out that the Taman Tiara Titiwangsa residential area consists of 250 detached homes spread over 50 acres near to the land in question (Lot 9885).
Lot 9885 went from 10.3 acres of reserve land meant to house a sewage treatment facility before the DKLCP to being rezoned after as a community centre and public open space with a density of no more than 32 people per acre.
“But after the gazettement of the plan (KLCP 2020), the land use was changed from ‘Community Centre and Public Open Space’ to ‘Residential 3’ which permits a high density development from 121 persons per acre up to a maximum of 400 persons per acre,” he said.
Sylvester added that Lot 9885 was also alienated to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) in which the FT minister and the KL mayor are trustees and directors, leading to clear conflicts of interest as both were also responsible for gazetting the KLCP.
“How can this be?” Sylvester exclaimed after saying a developer has since applied to develop the plot in question in a joint venture with the foundation.
In May 2017, Taman Tiara Titiwangsa residents filed for judicial review to dispute the KL mayor’s handling of public objections towards zoning and density limit changes for Lot 9885.
The matter reached the Court of Appeal last March, when it voided DBKL’s objection hearings for Taman Tiara Titiwangsa over the local authority’s failure to furnish residents with the necessary documents.
However, DBKL later lodged an appeal with the Federal Court, prompting Taman Tiara Titiwangsa residents to now seek the MACC’s involvement.
