Resident groups in Petaling Jaya, Selangor have expressed their solidarity with the 19 local councillors who walked out of the city council’s full-board meeting over a disagreement surrounding a development project’s approval.
The resident groups also claimed this is the second time that councillors had to leave a meeting in order to uphold the interests of the community over the same development project at Lorong Sultan.
“The law is very clear that decisions are made by a majority of votes of the councillors present.
“We are, therefore, very concerned that for at least the second time in recent history, our councillors are being forced to uphold the procedures and integrity of the decision-making process and the interests of the community, by leaving the meeting.
“It is even more disconcerting that the walkout is in relation to the same controversial development at Lorong Sultan,” the groups said in a statement last night.
On May 30, 19 councillors walked out of a Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) meeting after Mayor Mohamad Azhan Md Amir allegedly refused to heed their concerns regarding the approval procedure for a development project at Lorong Sultan.
Plot ratio
MBPJ councillor Terence Tan reportedly said the one-stop centre earlier rejected the project due to the proposed plot ratio being higher than the city’s permissible limit at the time of consideration.
“The developer then filed an appeal with the state appeal board. Meanwhile, the state came up with a new guideline on the plot ratio.
“The developer submitted another application to the centre for consideration, following the state’s new guideline.
“At the one-stop centre meeting last month, three out of the four councillors, the majority at the meeting, requested that the developer withdraw its appeal before the new application can be considered,” Tan said.
He said he and many other councillors who walked out were not against the development but merely wanted MBPJ to follow procedure.
Under immense pressure
The resident groups said they depend on their local councillors to ensure developments are approved according to “local knowledge, needs, and limitations”.
“This is especially true in the older part of Petaling Jaya where we have seen small and narrow roads with limited infrastructure being put under immense pressure by the approval of disproportionately large developments.
“Those who ultimately pay the price on a daily basis are the residents,” they said.
They also questioned why the video of the May 30 meeting had been removed from the MBPJ YouTube channel if there was nothing wrong with the process.
At the same time, the residents said they were proud of their local councillors who genuinely represent their communities and stand up to ensure checks and balances are upheld in the system.
The resident groups’ statement was endorsed by former Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah and former Malaysian Bar president Ambiga Sreenevasan. - Mkini
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