Taman Supreme folk fear new development will bring more land erosion

 

Residents at Taman Supreme, Cheras fear that the development of four new housing schemes will bring issues of land erosion and other environmental damage to the area.

Civil engineer and local resident Lau Yee Sum claimed that the surrounding neighbourhoods had already seen the drainage system in Pinggir Bukit Segar “come down” in recent times, forcing DBKL authorities to repair the slope.

He noted that RM8 million has already been spent by DBKL to repair the slope area - which has constantly faced what residents call “mini-landslides”.

“That’s why we are concerned now that they want to touch the slope again. In the future, we may have a disaster just like Bukit Antarabangsa,” he said.

The four new developments are expected to bring in 2,521 households, doubling the current number in the area.

A local resident, who wished to be identified as Madam Tan, said that the area’s residents had previously objected to a high-rise development by Malim Courts Property Development Sdn Bhd in 2016.

According to Madam Tan, approximately 80 percent of land in the surrounding area of Taman Supreme is classified as Class III or above.

This classification means that the terrain is sloping more than 25 degrees measured from the horizontal plane.

In 2018, the development was rejected by the City Planning Department on these grounds. The land was deemed fit only for the construction of “low-rise” villas or bungalows.

However, it was later discovered by Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai that the land at Jalan 2/98 Taman Supreme had been approved for the development of a new 18-storey high rise.

“We are really disappointed, sad and worried. Imagine, we spend so much of our money, our life savings, to buy houses here and (now), we see all of our (surrounding) environment being destroyed.

“We want to protest to make sure that this is not approved. We want to ask DBKL to not approve (the development) and stick to their word because it has been evaluated very thoroughly,” said Madam Tan, who coordinates the five residents’ associations objecting to the area’s overdevelopment.

The five residents’ associations - which includes Segar Hill Homeowners, Bukit Segar Residents’ Association, Taman Supreme Residents’ Association, Pinggir Bukit Segar Residents’ Association and Supreme Apartment Residents’ Association - are due to meet with DBKL this Friday over the issue.

Other concerns expressed by residents included environmental damage, increased flash floods, increased traffic congestion, increased population density, and lack of transparency on the status of developments, among others.

Kok Wai said that the introduction of high-rise developments will bring high risk to the area.

“Your dream home will become a home that you do not wish to stay. You may like to sell it out and escape to another area with lesser problems.

“If we allow these four (housing schemes) to take off, nature will be spoiled. There will be less greenery, fewer trees. There will be more carbon emissions and the environmental impact will not be positive,” he said at the protest today.

“There are already very few green lungs here. These green lungs are precious properties that the neighbourhood here should own forever,” added the DAP national chairperson.

Additionally, he reminded attendees of the 2008 landslide in Taman Pinggir Bukit Segar as a cautionary tale of overdevelopment. - Mkini