CHERAS folks became the first group to have a discussion on the Kuala Lumpur City Draft Plan 2020.
Representatives of 40 residents and petty traders associations attended the discussion organised by Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai on Friday evening at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
All ears: Tan (standing) addressing the representatives of 40 residents and petty traders associations from Cheras during the discussion.Town planning and transportation management expert Goh Bok Yen gave guidelines on how to analyse the draft plan since most of the attendees had not bought the hardcopies yet.
After the briefing, attendees were rather upset that even though the draft plan was set out to create a safe city for KL folks, it had not lined out the strategies to achieve so.
“An unsafe city is unfit to be called a world-class city. Not a single person here is satisfied with the security in his or her neighbourhood. Crime is rampant, we have only 12 years to 2020, is the government capable of fixing this problem within this period?” Tan asked.
He said while the draft plan seemed to be painting a perfect picture of the future Kuala Lumpur, issues such as potholes, basic infrastructure and public transportations that remained unsolved were making city folks sceptical.
Attendees also expressed mixed feelings towards the draft plan's proposal for the Bandar Tun Razak – Sungai Besi Strategic Zone to be largely residential as there would not be much push for commercial development.
“The draft plan only states that Cheras is to have street malls and sidewalk retails focusing on education, medicine and sports. Even today, Cheras only has Giant, Tesco and Leisure Mall that are not large-scale commercial centres,” said Goh.
The draft plan also indicates that Chan Sow Lin area would be further developed as an industrial zone dominated by automotive-related showrooms.
However, Goh highlighted that this would encounter hindrance unless rectified as many owners in the area hold short-term land titles.
He pointed out that the strategic zone was planned to have 97,000 residential units, compared to 29,000 currently.
With that, accessibility and connectivity are to be addressed with the 12 new rail lines, four of which cover some parts of Cheras, as well as congestion levy.
Goh, however, expressed reservation that the new rail lines could be completed in time judging from the current progress of public transportation development.
Tan advised attendees to scrutinise the land use zoning and development intensity proposed for the areas of their concern, and bring their queries up in subsequent discussion sessions.
He plans to hold the next session early July.
“This is a preliminary session for the residents. The draft plan is very technical and even the experts need time to digest it. City Hall should hold roadshows at various places around Kuala Lumpur to educate the residents on how to read the plan.
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