Teresa Kok heckled when visiting site of Taman Desa condo construction mishap

While visiting the site of The Address condominium in Taman Desa which had suffered a major construction mishap, DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok was heckled by several residents from nearby condominiums.

As the construction of the partially-collapsed condominium was ordered to stop pending investigation and outsiders are not allowed to enter the site, Kok addressed the media outside the site after her arrival.

Kok responded to criticism from MCA spokesperson Chan Quin Er by stressing that the project was approved before Pakatan Harapan came into power.

"The development order (DO) of the project was approved by DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) on March 13, 2017, the building plan was approved on June 19, 2017.

"Construction started in February 2018. All these were from before my time (being in the ruling government), I had no say on the approval," she said.

Kok said that she opposed the over-development in the area together with the residents, citing a petition by her constituency office and Taman Desa Residents Association (TDRA) in 2017.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker stressed that she is not in a position to comment about the incident pending investigation by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh).

Representatives from DBKL and TDRA president Wong Chan Choy were present at the site with Kok.

A few residents tried to interrupt and raised their criticism when Kok spoke to the media. However, they were stopped from asking further questions.

Kok promised some of the residents that she would meet them at a later time before leaving.

Five of the residents told the media later that they had failed to receive any response from Kok's office when they invited her to attend a town hall meeting organised by the Protect Taman Desa Coalition.

"She should have spent some time with us. We have been trying to have a town hall meeting with her for the past two-and-a-half years," said Khong KY (photo, right), who identified himself as former deputy chairperson of Seputeh DAP branch.

An aide to Teresa Kok was also involved in an exchange of words with Khong, shouting: "Were you kicked out from the party?"

Short squabbling happened between Khong and an aide to Teresa Kok. "Were you kicked out of the party?" shouted the aide in DAP's uniform.

Yesterday, Khong held a press conference with several MCA leaders including party spokesperson and Seputeh division vice-president Chan Quin Er complaining about Kok neglecting the people's interest.

Yesterday, the Protect Taman Desa Coalition held a press conference complaining about Kok neglecting the people's interests as well as urging the government to publish the findings of the investigation into the collapse once completed. 

Also present at the press conference were several MCA leaders including the party's spokesperson and Seputeh division vice-president Chan Quin Er.

Meanwhile, another Taman Desa resident, Valerie Low told the press that the land on which The Address is situated was planned as a green lung in the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 (KLCP 2020).

"The construction is very near to Tiara Faber, and sometimes there are things falling into our compound," she said.

Low lives in Tiara Faber condo which is located adjacent to The Address condo.

Upon completion, The Address will comprise three towers of 30-storeys each on a narrow strip of land which was once Tenaga Nasional Bhd reserve land.

"We have been trying to talk to YB (Teresa Kok), we are the constituents, why doesn't she give us some time? [...] When we started trying to get a dialogue with her, it was not like this, where we are now so antagonistic, (because) we are upset."

Some residents claimed that some workers are still going in and out of The Address although there is a stop-work order and the main door to the site was sealed.

Malaysiakini was unable to independently verify these claims and has contacted Kok's assistant for a response.

Responding to a separate query, Kok explained that her service centre has been working closely with TDRA and DBKL to resolve issues and complaints of Taman Desa residents.

Instead of having town hall sessions with a few thousand Taman Desa residents, she believed that attending to requests and complaints to individual residents’ groups or joint management bodies (JMBs) would solve the problems more effectively.

“My office has been attending to a lot of complaints from individuals from the condos, resident associations and JMBs. We will continue to do that because we believe that by attending individuals, resident associations and JMBs will resolve the problem more effectively, they (the constituents) are always welcome to contact my office.”

"I have never neglected the issues and the pledges of TDRA, my office is working with DBKL to relook at some of the proposed projects in Taman Desa."

"For those projects which have obtained a development order, it is difficult to scrap or cancel the project", she explained. - Mkini