Residents do not want Taman Rimba Kiara to be affected by development. - filepix
THE battle to save Taman Rimba Kiara has now been taken to court.
Residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) have filed a judicial review against Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz for a proposed housing development in Taman Rimba Kiara.
The park stakeholders have been protesting against the development since the news of the project was made public last year. Save Taman Rimba Kiara Working Group committee coordinator Leon Koay said leave was granted by the High Court on Aug 23.
“The judicial papers have been served on DBKL and KL mayor as respondents as of Aug 28,” he said during a press conference at the TTDI community hall today.
He said the High Court has fixed for Sept 6 for case management.
“The respondents are expects to be present on that date,” he added.
Koay said case management was a time for the registrar to decide on the schedule to file documents and set the timeable for the case.
He said the judicial review application requests include an order from the court quashing a conditional planning permission granted by DBKL to Memang Perkasa, the developer, on Feb 28 and an order from the court quashing a development order granted by DBKL to Memang Perkasa on July 13.
Also included is an order from the court requiring KL mayor to adopt and gazette the KL Draft City Plan 2020 and an order from the court staying the Planning Permission, the Development Order and all related processes and actions, pending disposal of substantive matters raised in the application.
“The focus of the application is on the basis of why they made the decision like this, and whether they went through the right processes and demonstrated the right kind of diligence in the making of this decision,” he said.
Koay said the parties to the judicial review application are management bodies of the five apartment complexes closest to Taman Rimba Kiara, TTDI Residents Association and various individual residents of TTDI.
When asked why the developers were not part of the residents’ legal action, he said DBKL was the gatekeeper and custodian for all development projects in KL and has the power to put a stop to the project.
“The character of this place is a green space and we won’t allow development in the park,” he said.
When asked if the court action means the project would be stopped at the moment, Koay said the residents had requested for a stay for the project as part of the proceeding which was supposed to be heard in court.
“The court is allowed to issue an interim stay on the project which is like an injunction in a civil suit,” he said.
There proposed housing development include plans to build eight blocks of between 42 and 54-storey high-end serviced apartments, while another 29-storey block comprising 350 units of affordable housing will be allocated to the TTDI longhouse residents.
The development includes the construction of a six-lane highway and a flyover to accommodate the massive growth in population density from 74 to 979 people per acre.
TTDI residents have consistently reiterated their support for a permanent and sustainable housing solution for the longhouse residents on the existing footprint of the longhouses.
