Hannah: Daim helping with Taman Rimba Kiara development issue

Hannah Yeoh (centre) chatting with residents at the blood donation drive in TTDI.

RESIDENTS of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) and Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh are using all options, including getting input from Tun Daim Zainuddin, to resolve the development issue besetting Taman Rimba Kiara (TRK), Kuala Lumpur.

“The court hearing (for the judicial review of development at TRK) has been postponed to the end of November and early December,” said Yeoh.

“Pending a resolution, I’m working with TTDI Residents Association (RA) and getting guidance from Council of Eminent Persons chairman Tun Daim on the preservation of TRK and all parks around Bukit Kiara as a green lung,” she said.

Yeoh added all options were being explored in a effort to get a resolution beneficial to both TTDI residents and longhouse residents.

She shared these updates with residents at a healthy living day event called “Ageing Gracefully” in TTDI, Kuala Lumpur.

TTDI residents have been protesting the proposed high-end luxury condominium project at TRK, featuring eight blocks towers that are between 42 and 54 stories.

The development also include a 29-storey block comprising 350 affordable housing units for the relocation of TTDI longhouse folk.

Meanwhile, Yeoh said she and TTDI residents were also eagerly awaiting updates from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the conflict-of-interest report she lodged after the 14th General Election, specifically on TRK.

“There is a clear conflict of interest in this matter, as it is a case where an approving body is also the owner of the land,” said Yeoh.

“The land for the project was carved out of TRK and given to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) to be developed.

“Former Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (Ku Nan) was the YWP chairman, while the former Kuala Lumpur mayor sat on YWP’s board of trustees. 

“They were both part of the approving body that gave approvals for development order: in this case, for YWP’s project,” she said, likening it to a “me approving a project for myself”.

Lauding MACC’s action on investigating 1MDB and Yayasan Akal Budi (involving Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi), Yeoh said MACC’s investigation on the questionable sale of 64 plots of land by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) was eagerly anticipated.

“The investigation into Ku Nan is a hot issue in KL. 

"We are waiting to see what action will be taken by MACC,” she said, adding that she had yet to receive any updates from MACC.

Save Taman Rimba Kiara Working Group committee coordinator Leon Koay said YWP was set up as a company limited by guarantee, similar to Yayasan Akal Budi. 

"It is run privately, though supposedly functioning as the welfare arm of a government body. If MACC can go after Yayasan Akal Budi, they shouldn’t have any difficulty with YWP,” he said.

Yayasan Akal Budi, chaired by Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, was set up by his family to help eradicate poverty and to provide Islamic education. He is said to have used RM800,000 belonging to the foundation to pay off credit card bills.

Meanwhile, TTDI RA chairman Abdul Hafiz Abu Bakar said the RA was organising a dialogue for TTDI residents with Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad and Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.

It will be held on Nov 11 at 11am at the TTDI Community Centre.