BB folks object to open space plan - The Star

Jul 24, 2008

LANDOWNERS and residents living along Jalan Beremi (Lot 751) in Bukit Bintang are objecting to proposals in the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020, which has marked the area as Public Open space.

Normally residents would be jumping for joy when space is left for greening in any neighbourhood but the residents are not too pleased as the land belongs to them and they were not informed about the plan by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

“Our lots are located on freehold land and are designated mixed residential and commercial and hence we are against City Hall's plans to turn the place into a public open space,'' said resident K.K. Kwan.

Kwan said the existing park in front of his home is adequate and falls within the definition of local play area whereby open spaces located in residential areas or in urban commercial centres within walking distance of users is secured from developments through development control mechanisms.

Common stand: Fong (second from right) with residents from Jalan Beremi in Bukit Bintang who filed their objections to the draft KL City Plan 2020.

“The park is more than adequate for the use of residents within a 500m radius. It is not overflowing with residents and visitors that it needs to be urgently enlarged,'' he said.

Residents said that apart from them, drug addicts also frequent the park at night and they believe that by enlarging the park it will only create a much bigger social problem in the neighbourhood.

Resident Katherine Lim said that by acquiring their lots to enlarge an existing park would not contribute to the green lung effect for the community nor for the city landscape.

“There are other vacant plots of land in the neighbourhood. If there is a genuine need for a larger open area or green lung, City Hall should make use of this area instead and not pick on us,'' she told Star Metro after filing her objections at the lobby of City Hall headquarters yesterday.

Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun accompanied Lim and several other residents.

Fong said the lots in Jalan Beremi were freehold and it was unfair to reclassify the area as open space.

“It is too close to the commercial centre for it to be turned into an open space,'' he said.

“Besides, there was never a pre-consultative process with the residents as per the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 '' Fong said.

City residents have until Aug 31 to file their objections.

10-year wait for pedestrian bridge over - The Star

Jul 21, 2008 Story and photos by PRIYA MENON

ABOUT 20,000 residents will benefit from the new pedestrian bridge in Wangsa Maju.

Section 2 Wangsa Maju residents are delighted that the new bridge connecting Block C, D and E to Block B is now ready for use.

“A walk to the shops or Wangsa Maju LRT station now takes just five minutes compared with 15 minutes previously,” said Marilyn Gerard, 23.

Work on the RM170,000 bridge began in February and was completed a week ago.

Long-awaited facility: The new pedestrian bridge will be useful to more than 20,000 residents in the Section 2 area of Wangsa Maju.

“We have been waiting for more than 10 years for the bridge to be built,” said Chan Sai Moi, 56.

A condominium built 10 years ago blocks the path residents used in the past to get across to the shoplots. The alternative route was to go around the blocks of flats to reach their destination.

“We are glad the bridge is ready but we hope that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) can put up streetlights because it is dark at night,” Chan added.

Wangsa Maju MCA division chairman Datuk Yew Teong Look said he would request for the streetlights to be put up as soon as possible.

Potential mosquito breeding ground: Yew looking at the brokenstone slabs in a drain located in Section 2 Wangsa Maju.

When Yew first asked the DBKL to build a bridge they had accidentally built it in Section 1, Wangsa Maju, but the bridge had also proved useful to the residents in that area.

“Although it was a mistake it was a good one because we were going to build one there anyway,” Yew added.

Yew said he had also asked DBKL to fix a broken drain in the area so that it would not pose problems for residents in the near future.

“The broken stone slabs will become an ideal place for aedes mosquitoes to breed, so we want to stop that from happening,” said Lim Cheng Hock, chairman of the Joint Management Committee of Section 2.

Lim said they would request DBKL to pay for the compound’s electricity bill that costs the residents RM700 a month.

“The committee has been paying for the compound lights for 20 years now when it is supposed to be paid by DBKL,” he said.