With the rise of transit oriented developments (TOD), Petaling Jaya residents called on the state and the city council to be more transparent and forthcoming by making the guidelines for such developments available for public viewing.
MyPJ representative Esham Salam said residents have a right to know the criteria for the approval of TOD in the city.
“Why are these guidelines not publicly displayed? From our findings, these guidelines are shrouded in secrecy and an ordinary resident will not be able to know why and how these developments are allowed,” he said.
A coalition of 200 residents group, MyPJ is protesting the high plot ratios allowed for TOD.
“Such high plot ratios affect the people and will have a great impact on the landscape of the city’s future,” noted Esham.
“We are having issues in many neighbourhoods with the approval of high plot ratios for new developments in areas such as Kelana Jaya, Taman Megah and Section 17.”
In fact, the issue of high plot ratio developments had been met with vehement objections from as early as 2014.
“If you look back at the chronology, there were objections, made through councillors and representatives, to developments with plot ratios of 1:8 in Petaling Jaya…The latest case of the project on the former site of the A&W restaurant is an example of how matters are bulldozed without taking the public’s views into consideration,” explained Esham.
“We are totally against the high plot ratio in its present form and we want the local government to be sincere about residents’ participation. Right now, we are in the dark.”
MyPJ has initiated the #TolakPJTOD campaign to gain public support in order to mobilise public awareness as well as objection to the high plot ratio policy.
“Within four days of the campaign, we already have about 1,000 signatures from residents,” shared Esham.
“The MBPJ Local Plans are not completed yet and it is not reasonable that we have to accept the high plot ratios in its present state.”
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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