Why was condo project approved on land meant for police station, asks Kok

 

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said the plot of land should be returned to the police.

PETALING JAYA: 

DAP’s Teresa Kok tonight called for the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Federal Territory lands and mines office to clear the air over the approval of a plot of land for a housing development project.

The Seputeh MP said when she met the mayor in September she was informed that the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land Executive Committee (JKTWPKL) had approved an application by a private company to build a condominium on a plot of reserved land in Taman Desa.

However, when she raised the matter at the Dewan Rakyat, Kok said she was informed that the home ministry and the police did not agree to the sale of the land.

The home ministry, she said, had plans to build the Brickfields police station on the plot.

The authorities are currently renting the building that houses the Brickfields police station.

Kok also said that the home ministry had written to the Federal Land Commissioner in April to oppose the proposal for police to build the station on a different plot of land.

“Why did DBKL and the Federal Territory lands and mines office reject the request by the police to build the Brickfields station but approved the application by the private company to develop condominiums on the 0.86 acre site?” she said in a Facebook post.

Kok urged the government to intervene and cancel the decision to award the private company the rights to the plot of land and return it to the police.

“The residents here need a bigger police station to ensure their safety.”

In a written parliamentary reply to Kok today, federal territories minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that JKTWPKL had decided against allowing the land to be used for a police station as the Taman Desa police station was a mere 500m away.

Zaliha said that on June 27, JKTWPKL decided to increase the Taman Desa police station’s land area by combining two plots of land.

In August, Kok had urged the government to halt high-density development near flood retention ponds and to review existing projects near the retention pond in Kampung Bohol and Taman Desa.

She was also reported to have handed a petition to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warning that the infrastructure in Taman Desa and other Madani housing project locations must be upgraded to accommodate the increased population. - FMT