The flood retention pond in Kampung Bohol, Kuala Lumpur, will not be converted into a housing area, said an officer from the Federal Territories Land and Mines Office (PTGWP).
PTGWP land registration deputy director Mohd Firdaus Ibaruslan said contrary to media reports and the belief of some residents, the pond is just being upgraded to increase its capacity by 7.5 times.
The current capacity of 150,000m³ - equivalent to 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools – will be increased to 1.13 million m³ or the equivalent of 452 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
This is expected to reduce floods in the area down to once per 100 years, but this can be upgraded in the future to further reduce it to once per 200 years, he said.
The area will also serve as a location for recreational activities for residents nearby, Firdaus told a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur today.
Previously, the area surrounding the pond was hit by heavy flooding in July 2020, March and May 2022, and December 2023.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa, who was also present at the briefing, said she will meet residents next week.
The residents will also be briefed on the government’s plans for the pond, she told reporters.
“Next week, god willing, next week,” Zaliha said.
Yesterday, over 100 protesters gathered at the Kampung Muhibah Community Complex to protest the purported transformation of the pond to a high-density housing project.
According to the group, it received information that the government approved the use of six plots of land next to the Kampung Bohol flood retention pond to build 5,000 housing units.
Before this, media reports revealed that a tender notice was recently issued by PTGWP, offering bids to design and upgrade the flood retention pond in accordance with Section 76 of the National Land Code 1965.
PTGWP allegedly published a tender notice on its website with an offer for developers to submit bids for the project to facilitate the construction of a large-scale housing project.
Six plots of land with an area of 10.85ha in Lot 102996 were reportedly for the development project.
Govt-developer deal
Meanwhile, Firdaus explained that a private company was selected to upgrade the pond in exchange for approval to develop housing on government land.
“It will spend around RM40 million for the flood retention pond and recreation area.
“In return, it will receive approval for the use of government land 26.8 acres in size but it will have to pay land premiums of around RM41.7 million,” he added.
Of the six plots of land totalling 26.8 acres allowed for housing projects, three will be used to develop affordable housing and another will be used to create Madani housing.
Besides that, the pond’s reserve status was cancelled so that a new reserve status could be applied due to the increased land size and change of plans, he said.
About 2.1 acres of land were added to the pond, including inlet and outlet areas, he explained.
The original plan did not include the use of the pond as a recreational area, Firdaus added.
The project will begin as soon as possible and construction will take around four to five months, he said.
When asked about the company selected to upgrade the pond, Zaliha said that it cannot be named yet. - Mkini
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