KUALA LUMPUR parliamentarians said they were shocked, worried and concerned over the draft plan after they had a chance to look at it.
Even though the MPs did not have a chance to fully study the thick volumes of the draft plan, they did manage to spot problems by looking at the maps showing land use zoning and development intensity.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said that it looked like parts of Federal Hill, which were supposed to be for institutional use, had been identified for commercial development.
She also pointed out that stretches of Bukit Gasing had been marked for residential use while Medan Serai would have massive infrastructure development.
“This is an apparent encroachment of green lungs and excess development of the areas. This is worrying and we are very concerned,” she said.
“The whole purpose of this exhibition is for the public to give their views on the future plan for Kuala Lumpur.
“I hope this is not a public relations exercise and public opinions and objections must be taken into serious consideration,” she added.
Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong was shocked after finding out that stretches of Bukit Gasing would be developed instead of being kept as a green belt.
He also expressed frustration as his constituency would not be endowed with many green areas.
“It is definitely not right to have so many public housing projects clustered in an area, as it will worsen the area’s traffic problems. City Hall must not build and only think about preparing necessary infrastructure after that,” he said.
“It seems that City Hall is only interested in building a concrete jungle and not keeping the real jungle,” he added.
Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai highlighted that public hearings of the draft plan should not be conducted by only City Hall, who had been handling the planning and decision making of the draft plan.
“There should be a special task force comprising City Hall and other relevant parties like the MPs, NGOs, professionals, environmentalists, consumer groups and town planners, among others, to conduct the hearings,” he said.
Tan said he would hold dialogues with the local communities to study the draft plan.
He commented that even though the mayor said this was the time to object and to give opinions, it would not be right if the public were not allowed to raise issues after the plan was gazetted as they did not have access to details of the projects.
Like many of his counterparts, Tan urged City Hall to extend the exhibition period and to reduce the price of the draft plan’s hard copy to make it easier for more people to study it.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said the public needed more time to study the draft plan and to consult experts.
He urged his constituents to participate actively to help mould a better environment.
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