Residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) are considering to bring the case to the Court of Appeal after the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed their stay application to stop the construction of a mixed-use project that will allegedly encroach on the Taman Rimba Kiara park.
According to attorney Balan Nair, who is representing the TTDI residents, the stay application was rejected because landowner Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) and property developer Memang Perkasa asserted that there is a huge cost of about RM115 million on their part.
As such, the KL High Court Judge Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said ordered the residents to pay RM40,000 in legal costs.
Nevertheless, there is still a pending a judicial review. “The substantive hearing is yet to be disposed of, so there will be a case management on 16 January 2018,” said Balan.
Meanwhile, Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group Lead Strategist and Coordinator Leon Koay said their purpose for filing the stay application was to save the park from getting destroyed.
“We have nothing to gain from this. Our only interest is to protect a public park which has been there for decades and not to have high-end condominiums built on a green lung. We have no objection to the permanent housing for the longhouse residents, they deserve it.”
“However, their permanent housing can be delivered in many ways and on the existing 4.4acre parcel that they’re living on. It doesn’t have to involve the destruction of the park. The bizarre thing is that 90 percent of the proposed development is for high-end condominiums, while only 10 percent is for affordable housing for the longhouse residents.”
He said they are only objecting to that 90 percent, but the defendants, which include YWP, Memang Perkasa and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), make it appear that we are opposed to the longhouse residents getting affordable housing, which is not correct.
“We don’t need 2,000 condo units and that’s the only thing we are protesting here. And in doing so, we are denied the preservation of the status quo and we are hit with an exorbitant amount of lawyer costs.”
Notably, the project comprises a 29-storey affordable housing block with 350 units and six blocks of 42- and 52-storey luxury serviced apartments with 1,766 units. Overall, 2,116 homes will be built, increase the area’s population density from 74 persons per acre to 979 persons per acre.
“The question here is, is this the message that the court administration and the government would like to send out to the greater public about public action — about doing things in the public interest? There has to be a balance somewhere. And for raising this issue at the interlocutory state, we are hit with cost of RM40,000,” said Koay.
Following the dismissal of the stay application, Koay revealed that the residents and Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group will deliberate on their next course of action. It has been an uphill battle, but they will continue to protect the park as it is an important green lung.
“What has been claimed here by the developer and landowner is that their rights as third parties have to be taken into consideration because they have spent so much money but what has not yet been addressed — and should’ve been addressed — is that the landowner is a welfare arm of the Federal Territories (FT) Ministry and the Minister is the Chairman of YWP.”
“And the approving party here — DBKL and the KL Mayor also sit on the board of YWP. So, all these issues have not been addressed yet. The question of interest and commercial loss to these entities have been raised. But what has not been considered is the entire process of getting this land,” he added.
Image sourced from Malay Mail.
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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