Setiawangsa residents rue ‘arrogant’, opaque DBKL

Setiawangsa residents have expressed their grave disappointment at Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) refusal to provide them with impact assessment reports for a proposed development that they are opposed to.

The residents, represented by Desa Putra Condominium management committee chairperson Abu Bakar Ariffin, criticised DBKL for turning down their request for, among others, a Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) report.

“We see this as a blatant failure of transparency, a sign of non-engagement, a disregard for due process and arrogant indifference to the needs of tax-paying Kuala Lumpur residents.

“The documents requested... are for the residents to assess and comprehend the implications of the proposed development.

“We need to understand the impact of the proposed development so that we can raise fact-based and objective objections during our public hearing,” he said in a statement today.

Abu Bakar further characterised DBKL’s response as a “slap in the face” to Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who had previously joined residents in urging the council to release more information on the proposed project – a 46- storey serviced apartment building adjacent to Desa Putra.

Yesterday, DBKL City Planning Department director Nurazizi Mokhtar told Malaysiakini that there was “no need” to provide residents with the TIA report.

He suggested that residents instead put in a request for the reports at an Oct 16 public hearing for the project, but maintained that approval of the request would be at the discretion of the official chairing the hearing.

'Blatant disregard' for traffic woes

Nurazizi also stated that that residents should have anticipated the proposed development as it was being built by the same developer that built their homes.

In response to this, Abu Bakar pointed out they had not been informed of the developer’s future plans when they purchased their properties.

“We would like him (Nurazizi) to furnish us with the law that states the developer is under obligation to fully disclose future plans to buyers of their development.

“We find his statement highly illogical, as we doubt even the developer themselves, who bought the land more than a decade ago, knew what they were going to do with that land back when they bought it,” he said.

Abu Bakar added that DBKL’s response showed that it failed to take into account the crux of residents’ concerns – traffic congestion.

“His (Nurazizi’s) statement shows that DBKL has a blatant disregard for the changes in an area’s density and does not take into consideration current conditions in approving any development proposal.

“The population density which is already high coupled with traffic congestion and illegal parking issues in and around Desa Putra is being ignored in totality,” he said.

He also urged Nurazizi to confirm if the status of the 0.77ha plot for the proposed development had indeed been changed from residential to commercial as residents’ previously alleged.

“Nurazizi is also sidestepping the issue of the change in land use from residential to commercial.

“On what basis should the land change be approved and what is the impact for residents with this change?” he asked. - Mkini