LETTER | Learning from Taman Rimba Kiara fiasco

LETTER | I welcome the recent cabinet directive to Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to preserve Taman Rimba Kiara as a green space while building permanent housing for 98 longhouse families.

Let’s go back to 2017. Folks at Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) tried to stave off a humungous luxury service apartment project (over 2,200 units) including some units for the 98 longhouse families where DBKL had earlier issued a development order (DO) on a 12-acre site.

The legal battle went up right to the Federal Court and the court found the issuance of the DO to be wrong and illegal and quashed an appeal by DBKL to reinstate the proposed project.

The Federal Court concluded that there was a conflict of interest and/or bias afflicting the decision of the mayor.

It also found that the KL Structure Plan 2020 (KLSP), gazetted in 2004, was legally binding which identified the area as a city park and a public green space. There were no hearings held to gather objections and input from the public about the change in land status.

The proposed project was first introduced in 2016.

The landowner of TRK had entered into a joint venture (JV) with Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd (MPSB – a subsidiary of Malton Bhd) to develop the land. MPSB was to pay RM160 million to the landowner but the JV had to get the approval from DBKL for the project.

The Federal Court clearly stated the mayor’s conflict of interest was not only one but in three areas and the issuance of the DO is in contravention of the KLSP which was also against the Federal Territories Planning Act (FTPA).

His discretion to approve the proposed project was “fundamentally flawed”, illegal, invalid and “bad in law” and did not act within the limits of his powers and had gone against the purpose of the FTPA.

Time, money and resources that could have been used to further improve Kuala Lumpur was wasted.

Nevertheless, the cabinet directive is just one part of the solution to the Taman Rimba Kiara case but how about the issue of governance and transparency that the prime minister has been expounding?

Will there be any further investigations and appropriate action taken towards the above misadventures?

Transformation needed

In the meantime, how long will it take DBKL to comply with the cabinet’s directive to preserve Taman Rimba Kiara and prioritise housing for the longhouse families? The legal battle took six years and the Federal Court ruling has been more than a year!

We need transformation. People, be it the authorities and private sector must be accountable for their respective roles. We need to be committed to taking our country to greater heights.

There are many systemic governance issues that perpetuate malfeasance, with billions lost along the way, where the rakyat have been shortchanged and the government has a duty to correct it.

Thomas Jefferson once said - "That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part."

What say you…

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