By Farah Wahida:
Following multiple landslips, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) plans to seize 50 vacant bungalow land plots in Bukit Gasing and transform them into a forest reserve.
Notably, the National Land Code 1965 (NLC 1965) and the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1960 allows state governments to acquire private landed properties even without the consent of its owners.
“MBPJ will inform owners that their plots will be seized due to public interest. Since it has been classified as Class 4, the land cannot be occupied and no development will be allowed,” said Mayor Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad.
The council will also submit the proposal for the acquisition of said plots to the Selangor Economic Action Council. However, MBPJ’s move will affect landowners and market speculators who had hoped to see land value to increase significantly due to the shortage of land in Petaling Jaya.
“MBPJ is left with not much option but to take drastic action. Based on the soil erosion, the plots affected are off Jalan 5/60, Jalan 5/64 and Jalan 5/66,” explained Alinah, adding that the council had engaged soil experts to identify erosion-prone areas that are dangerous.
“We have informed the residents of Fraser Towers not to park their cars at the foot of the slopes. Recently, a boulder rolled down and hit a parked car while in another incident, mud and vegetation rolled down the slope and hit a car being driven along Jalan 5/60,” said Alinah.
“Inspection by geotechnical engineers, who can recognise impending slope failure, is being carried out. As an immediate short-term measure, a gabion wall is being built. This is a better option than nail piling.”
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
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