Councillor welcomes ministry’s announcement

malaysiakini December 12, 2008
Derek Fernandez, Petaling Jaya City Council councillor and Joint Action Committee for Bukit Gasing Chairperson welcomes today’s announcement by Federal Territories Ministry to ban hillside projects on Class IV slopes.

FT Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique also announced that there will be a temporary freeze on all projects on Class III slopes in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

Camera: Shukri Mohamad

Editor : Azreen Madzlan

‘Good news’ on hill projects

Controversial hillslope projects like this one may have to come to a stop.

NST Streets Friday, 12 December 2008

Noel Achariam

KUALA LUMPUR: A decision on whether hillside developments will be allowed to continue is to be announced today by Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique, but a ministry source says there will be “good news.”

Good news for whom? It is presumed he meant good news for the people.

After a month of close monitoring and conducting tests on controversial developments like Medan Damansara 21 and two other hillside projects, it now looks like these projects will be put on hold.

A City Hall source said a report has been submitted to the Cabinet recommending that the projects be stopped.

Several authorities, including City Hall, Federal Territories Ministry and Public Works Department, have been carrying out tests on the sites.

Zulhasnan had also visited the areas thrice in the last one month, said a ministry official in rebutting complaints that the minister has been turning a deaf ear to their pleas.

On Wednesday, a resident said his association had written three times to Zulhasnan but had never received a response.

The official said: “The residents claim that the minister did not visit the area. He went there unannounced. He need not inform the people that he was going there. He did not go there for publicity, but on a fact-finding mission.”

He said the visits were made even before the Bukit Antarabangsa landslip last week.

Medan Damansara residents have protested against the hillside development for the past two years.

The official said that after his site visits, Zulhasnan had instructed City Hall officials to study all aspects of the development and present a report. It is believed the report has been submitted to the Cabinet for further action.

Two other controversial KL projects, on Bukit Gasing and Bukit Ceylon, are also expected to be halted.

The ministry’s sensitive areas environment committee will be conducting more tests on all affected projects.

Other details such as the ministry’s views on monetary compensation demanded by residents, and legal implications of the proposed decisions, were not available.

The Medan Damansara 21 project, by a unit of Selangor Deredging, consists of 21 bungalows priced between RM10 million and RM15 million each. A recent landslip there caused two families to evacuate.

The Gasing Hill development, by Gasing Meridien Sdn Bhd, sits on a 10-metre ledge facing Pantai Hill Park and Andalucia condominium, and involves the construction of 142 bungalows.

Residents living nearby believe the development is unsafe.

Residents of the Federal Hill green lung are protesting against a proposal to build a nine-storey block of police quarters, three-storey police station and three high-rise blocks of commercial offices.

Residents are also concerned about the safety of the Bukit Ceylon hillside development, comprising a block of 34-storey apartments and three blocks of 43-storey apartments.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/Streets/Friday/Stories/2425661/Article/

Feeble attempt at public relations

theSun | FRIDAY DECEMBER 12 2008

Down2Earth
by Terence Fernandez

FIRST they came armed with “facts and figures” as well as executive councillors who acted as their spokespersons. They regaled us with successful hillslope development examples in Taiwan and Hong Kong and spoke of cutting down hills and dumping them in valleys as though it was admirable!

And now with the Bukit Antarabangsa tragedy, they have gone into public relations overdrive by offering their services in the rescue efforts and (this is laughable) audit landslide-prone areas! I am not calling the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) members bandits, but as the saying goes, how can you ask the fox to look after the chicken coop.

And enough of this sandiwara.

If Rehda was really concerned with public safety, it would on its own accord get its members to be responsible developers and abandon all plans for hillslope projects. But no. At RM10 million a bungalow (as in the case of Damansara 21), the call of the ringgit is too alluring to ignore. So what, if there is another tragedy?

Even after the Pakatan Rakyat state government had in April declared its ban on Class Three and Class Four hillslope projects, Rehda members were still attempting to get the state government to reverse its policy.

This was evident at a dialogue on Aug 17 where they tried to pull every trick out of the hat to justify building on slopes…more