The draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 (DKLCP2020) may not be gazetted, after Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor was quoted as saying that he will not sign or approve the plan since it has room for abuse, reported The Star.
The statement shocked Kuala Lumpur members of Parliament considering that the plan is Kuala Lumpur’s blueprint for development.
“For years, we have been having meetings and dialogues with three mayors to push for the gazettement (of the plan),” said Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng.
Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai noted that they “spent hours and hours studying the plan and have been pushing for it to be gazetted for almost a decade; and now with only three years left, he is saying he is not going to implement it?”
He revealed he waited for the minister to say that he had been misquoted, after reading Tengku Adnan’s statement in a local English daily.
Setiawangsa MP Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari explained that gazetting the draft plan will “eliminate the room for abuse and help the people better understand the plan for the city”.
“However, there must be some flexibility for the minister or mayor to make changes with regard to public interest…We do not know what we may need in the future, maybe affordable housing or infrastructure,” said Fauzi.
“We would not want this plan to be set in stone.”
A decades-long development guide, the KL draft plan “is the only way to preserve low-density zones and the existing green lungs”, said Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.
“Even Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) Rule 5 for public hearings does nothing for residents who attempt to block almost any approved development…Imagine the plight of residents and the people of Kuala Lumpur if the draft plan were to be taken away from them,” said Nurul.
“If Tengku Adnan is concerned about the issue of public housing ownership, then enact a policy that ensures 30 percent of all new developments is meant for public housing.”
Launched in 2008, the draft plan was on public display till August that year. DBKL then conducted hearings with developers, resident associations, religious groups and NGOs until June 2009.
It was originally slated to be gazetted in 2012, but was moved to 28 February 2013, following land usage issues and objections.
It was previously reported that Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Loga Bala Mohan said the draft plan was delayed since they are still listening to the views and suggestions of the stakeholders.
“We have to listen to the stakeholders and not bulldoze it through,” he said when asked for the tentative date when the draft plan will be gazetted.
Image sourced from The Star
Radin Ghazali, Content Writer at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email radin@propertyguru.com.my
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