Bukit Gasing court case: Residents win review

By : Danutcha Chelliah

NST Online: 2008/03/18

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/2189507/Article/index_html

 

Bukit Gasing residents thanking lawyer R. Sivarasa (right) as they leave the Kuala Lumpur High Court.  

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday granted a leave for judicial review to 108 Bukit Gasing residents, allowing them the right to express their concerns for a development project in the area.

The residents were also granted leave to quash the decision of the Kuala Lumpur mayor not to hold a public hearing on the application by Gasing Meridian Sdn Bhd (GMSB) for a development order.

The mayor’s decision was conveyed to the residents in a letter dated Dec 31, last year.

Judge Lau Bee Lan directed the mayor, who is the respondent in the case, to forward a copy of the reports and documents pertaining to the application by GMSB to the residents at least a month before the next court hearing.

The documents would include reports from a geological survey, soil structure and soil stability evaluations, proposed geohazard monitoring, hydrology report, environmental impact assessment (EIA), traffic impact analysis and social impact analysis from the authorities.

Also to be submitted are proposed site and lay-out plans, the earthwork plan with sections, the development report and documents produced by experts or consultants engaged by GMSB.

In their grounds of application, the residents, represented by counsel R. Sivarasa, said the mayor had erred in law and acted in excess of his jurisdiction when he wrote the letter stating that the procedure for hearing objections would not be implemented as it would violate existing rules and regulations.

The residents claimed the mayor had failed to take into account that they had a right under common law to be given due notice and to be given a chance to voice their opinions in the decision-making process of planning.

They stated that the mayor had acted in contrary to the policy and intent of the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 (Act 267).

The Act required the preparation of a local plan for Kuala Lumpur, which would have given not just adjoining owners, but all persons in the Federal Territory, a right to be heard in respect of the development plan for their area.

The residents said the proposed development of 71 bungalows would be on steep hill slopes.

They also claimed that the 13 major landslides which had occurred in the Klang Valley and nationwide since 1993 provided ample proof of the real dangers in carrying out development projects on such steep slopes.

According to the residents, there had been a few landslides in the area.

These included a landslide which was apparently caused by hill slope development in 1971 which severely damaged six government owned bungalows along Jalan Tanjung, Bukit Gasing.

They said the existence of a 23 million litre water reservoir situated just above the proposed development site and a large underground pipeline on its western boundary, coupled with large scale earthworks from the development project, could weaken the soil structure and cause potential danger to the retaining structures at the reservoir.

The residents claimed that the proposed development would result in 15.52ha of hilly and secondary forest to be cleared and re-sculpted with an estimated 760,000 tonnes of excess earthwork to be relocated.

Lau set April 23 for an inter-parte hearing for the residents’ application to stop all further proceedings and actions by the mayor in respect of the application for planning permission by GMSB, pending the disposal of the inter-parte hearing for judicial review.

Residents want public hearing over Bukit Gasing development on April 23

    

 Beaming over positive outcome: Owners and residents of Bukit Gasing outside the court.

Tuesday March 18, 2008 – TheStar Metro

By BAVANI M

THE High Court has set April 23 to hear an application for leave by the Joint Action Committee of Bukit Gasing (JACBG), and a group of owners and residents for a judicial review against the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to compel them to hold a public hearing on a proposed development located on the KL side of Bukit Gasing.The residents also want to see the necessary papers, technical reports and studies on the development.Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee described the court decision as a mini victory.“It’s like being given the key to the door – to enter and present our case in detail and to tell DBKL not to allow any form of development in Bukit Gasing,” he said.“We have received very little information from DBKL. In fact, till today we don’t know the status of the land. We don’t even know if a development order has been issued,” said Lee.

  “It’s like being given the key to the door – to enter and present our case in detail” – EDWARD LEE

JACBG committee member Gary Yeoh said DBKL’s lack of communication had forced them to go to court.“There has been no feedback from them and that is why we had to resort to this,” said Yeoh.“This is only the beginning. The court has granted us leave to proceed and we will be keeping a close eye on the area to be developed  “If there is any hanky panky, we will file an interim order to compel them to stop,” added Lee.Yeoh said that he hoped DBKL would act responsibly and hold a public hearing.“As a taxpayer, I fail to understand why I am not told what is happening,” said Yeoh.The residents had submitted a petition to DBKL last year requesting for a public hearing but the DBKL sent a letter to the residents on Dec 31, 2007, refusing to grant them a public hearing.At a meeting on Jan 26, the concerned residents unanimously supported the move to take legal action against the DBKL and filed for a judicial review by the High Court.The proposed development by Gasing Meridian Sdn Bhd is to develop 71 bungalows on a 15.4ha site.It affects over 860 condo units, water reservoir and a 60m pipeline that supplies water to residents on the PJ side of Bukit Gasing.

Residents fear for their lives as the proposed development is being carried out on land where the soil structure consists of sandstone and shale and is unsuitable for any type of development.

The residents are worried that any form of development on the site could lead to a landslide.

 

 Green sight: A file picture of Gasing Hill and the Section 5 residential area.

The group’s request for a judicial review also included the High Court to rule that the residents be informed and shown all reports, geological survey, soil structure, soil stability evaluations, proposed geo-hazard mitigation measures, environmental impact assessment, traffic impact analysis and social impact analysis carried out by the developer on the site.The residents said that DBKL had acted contrary to what is stated in the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982, (Act 267) – requiring local plans for KL that would have given the affected owners the right to be heard in respect to the proposed development.Despite gazetting the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 in 2004, it had failed to prepare draft local plans for the area as required by the Federal Territory Planning Act.

A resident of Bukit Gasing, C.Y Lee said that DBKL had not acted in accordance with the law, as well as the principle of Local Agenda 21, requiring partnership between DBKL and the public.

“Are they (DBKL) not answerable to us as taxpayers, don’t we have any say at all,” lamented Lee.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/3/18/central/20671649&sec=central

Bukit Gasing Residents Get Leave For Review Of KL Mayor’s Decision

March 17, 2008 21:52 PM  KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) — Bukit Gasing residents today obtained leave to seek a judicial review of the Kuala Lumpur mayor’s decision not to conduct hearing of their objection to a development project.

Judge Lau Bee Lan who presided over the case in the High Court (Appellate and Special Powers Division) here, also set April 23 for an inter-parte hearing of the residents’ application for a stay of all further proceedings and actions by the mayor in respect of the project pending the judicial review.

According to the Save Bukit Gasing website, Gasing Meridian Sdn Bhd plans to build 71 bungalows on Bukit Gasing.

However, a number of premise owners and residents of nearby areas have protested against the development, saying that it will clear 15.52 hectares of secondary forest and re-sculpture the natural features of the hill by removing almost 800,000 tonnes of earthworks.

Their request for a public hearing on the project was turned down by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in December last year, hence they filed the application for judicial review.

A total of 108 people were named as the applicants.

They argued that Kuala Lumpur mayor had erred in law and acted in excess of his jurisdiction when deciding that the procedure for hearing objections would not be implemented for the application by Gasing Meridian for the development order as it would violate existing rules and regulations.

They also said that the mayor had failed to take into account that they had a right under common law to be given due notice and to be heard in the decision making process of planning.

They contended that such a duty arose from the local authority’s obligation to act fairly towards adjoining owners of a proposed development as decided in a a previous High Court ruling.

The applicants also said the mayor was acting contrary to the policy and intent of Parliament enshrined in the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 which requires the preparation of a local plan for Kuala Lumpur and which would have given not just adjoining owners but all persons in Kuala Lumpur a right to be heard in respect of the development plan for their area.

The applicants claimed that the proposed development would be on steep hill slopes and based on 13 major landslides in nationwide since 1993, there was ample proof of real dangers in respect of development of such steep slopes.

They further claimed that there had been several incidents of landslides and geologocal structure difficulties within the vicinity of Bukit Gasing including one that Occured in 1971 where a landslide precipitated by hill slope development severely damaged six government-owned bungalows along Jalan Tanjung on Bukit Gasing.

The applicants contended that a reservoir with 23 million litres of water now sits on Bukit Gasing just above the proposed development and a large underground pipeline on its western boundary and such a large scale earthworks could weaken the soil structure and causing potential danger to the retaining structures.

– BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=321127