KUALA LUMPUR — Residents here have complained to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) about overdevelopment in the capital, highlighting discrepancies between the city’s previous and current structure plan, and the lack of transparency in land use conversions.
The Kuala Lumpur Residents Action for Sustainable Development Association (KLRA+SD), which represents 74 residents groups, told a PAC inquiry on development in the capital, held on Feb 5 in Parliament, that it found land previously reserved as open space had been turned into plots marked for development.
This included land reserved as flood retention ponds which were degazetted to become development land, they found from studying the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan (PTKL) 2020 and PTKL 2040, KLRA+SD said in a statement.
The association wants PAC to look into the process of degazetting public open spaces and whether it is done transparently, and in accordance with sustainable development plans.
Another example the group cited was Plot 39747 which was reserved as open public space and designated for a public recreational site under PTKL 2020.
However, under PTKL 2040, the plot is now designated for development.
Another case is Plot 39725, which was previously designated for a community hall. Under PTKL 2040, it is now meant for development.
Yet another example of public land given over to private commercial development is the now-demolished KL Badminton Stadium in Cheras, with the plot of land now owned by a developer and slated for a sky-scraper condominium project.
KLRA+SD said its chairperson Tan Booi Char presented these examples of questionable land use conversions to PAC at the meeting.
“Are public objections even considered when making such decision?” the group asked.
It then cited the land status conversion affecting the flood retention pond in Kg Bohol to commercial development as a case in point where the public’s view are not heeded.
“We find that our views and public objections are usually not considered at all, such as in the case of the flood retention pond in Kg Bohol, which had 1,275 objections submitted during a public inquiry on May 20, 2024, but the land was still approved for development,” said the group.
KLRA+SD said it had even sent two letters to the Prime Minister over the matter, dated May 22 and July 24 last year, but received no response.
Kuchai Lama a case study of overdevelopment
Association secretary Joshua Low, meanwhile, presented to PAC concerns about excessive development using the Kuchai Lama area as a case study of development exceeding a location’s carrying capacity.
Low noted the population strain on the area’s infrastructure while highlighting 2m-high flash floods there in March 2022, while traffic and vehicle congestion had worsened without any measures taken to widen roads.
Low said based on land use plans in the PTKL 2040, residents have found several changes in land designation for parcels previously meant for infrastructure and utilities which were changed to commercial or residential use.
KLRA+SD said it was not against development, but urged for it to be carried out holistically, also bearing in mind environmental sustainability and the psychological health of residents.
Protect open spaces
The association also highlighted the call by Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kar Ming in December to all local authorities to expedite the gazetting of public open spaces to protect them from misuse.
KLRA+SD said it is skeeingPAC’s help to obtain a list of all reserved open spaces that have been degazetted since 2015 till now, to ascertain that the process was done appropriately.
The group noted that degazettement decisions for land in the Federal Territories are no longer searchable online, making the process opaque and lacking in transparency
On Feb 1, PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the bipartisan committee would be holding five proceedings on inquiries into various issues, including development of Kuala Lumpur land under the Federal Territories Department, the Lands and Mines Department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. – February 9, 2025