Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain has approved the redevelopment of the former site of the iconic A&W restaurant in Lorong Sultan during the body’s monthly meeting on Monday (29 January).
However, many councillors oppose the permitted plot ratio of 1:8 for the 0.4ha site that will house a 20-storey office tower.
In fact, 10 city councillors walked out from the meeting after the Mayor prevented them from questioning the approval and holding a vote on the matter. The head of the city council also turned off the microphones of some officials.
“I am the chairman and I no longer allow anymore discussions here. The decisions made at the One Stop Centre (OSC) committee meetings are final and it is only brought up in the full board meetings to inform councillors,” said Mayor Mohd Azizi.
After the commotion started, the official live streaming of the event was cut off, and guards were called to escort some councillors outside the session hall.
When the city officials began vacating the premises, media personnel were also instructed to leave the venue and delete all video recordings on their smartphones.
Notably, the brouhaha started after most councillors asked the Mayor to re-deliberate the approval at the OSC level due to numerous objections, but their motion was not granted.
“It is our right to have a voice in this matter as all final decisions should be done based on the majority approval of the full council, which consists of a mayor and 24 councillors,” said councillor Sean Oon.
He requested for a vote to re-discuss the OSC deliberations on the development approval, but his motion was turned down by the Mayor, who thought it was not needed.
Image sourced from Poskod.my
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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