Govt can still stop KL projects approved by BN, says town planner

Residents protesting the development of Taman Rimba Kiara in Kuala Lumpur recently.

PETALING JAYA: A town planning expert who was involved in drafting the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 says the government can still cancel projects approved by the previous administration under the plan, as long as they have not yet kicked off.

“It’s still not too late,” Nazri Mohd Noordin, who served as president of the Malaysian Institute of Planners from 2013 to 2017, told FMT.

He was asked on the calls to scrap projects approved by the previous government prior to the gazettement of the city plan.

This included the proposed development of a piece of land in Taman Rimba Kiara and the National Institute of Health, which drew flak from residents’ associations and NGOs over the manner in which they were approved.

Among them is Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur (SKL), which has urged Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad to explain why the city plan was gazetted despite violations.

The KL City Plan was finalised in 2012 after work on it began in 1998. It was gazetted in October.

But Nazri warned that shelving the projects would be costly.

“Can the government afford this in its present financial situation?”

He said it would be better to gazette a plan rather than having to wait for a new plan which may likely take another two to four years to complete.

“To me, the important thing is to have a gazetted plan, even with its imperfections. At least we’ll then be in control of Kuala Lumpur’s development.”

Nazri said that he was frustrated when Putrajaya refused to gazette the plan.

“With this gazetted plan, even though it’s not perfect, I’ll take it. We can improve on it later.” - FMT