St Ignatius Church in Petaling Jaya is looking forward to a positive dialogue with the authorities over a reserve land currently being used as a carpark.
The reserve land is part of the ongoing Sungai Kayu Ara Phase 2 Flood Mitigation Project for widening and upgrading the river.
Last week, Petaling District and Land Office issued a notice to St Ignatius for the removal of structures, namely a perimeter fence along the riverbank, citing it as illegal occupation of the river reserve under Section 425 of the National Land Code.
According to the notice, the church has until next week to remove the fence.
The church has maintained that Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) had permitted it to use the land since 2012.
St Ignatius’ lawyer Datuk Joy Appukuttan said a dialogue between the parties was needed to address the sensitive issue.
“A holistic approach and dialogue is needed because it involves a house of worship and worsening traffic congestion if the carpark is removed,” he said when contacted.
The carpark has about 120 bays.
Joy said the church had been maintaining the river reserve as per terms and conditions of the 2012 letter.
“The church’s work on the carpark also contributed to environment protection and beautification of the riverside at no cost to the authorities.
“The additional parking is to help minimise traffic congestion in the area,” he said.
He added that the church was built in 1988, before the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) and other high-rises.
“We are reaching out to our (Bandar Utama) assemblyman’s office as well,” said Joy.
Meanwhile, the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) has confirmed that there was indeed a copy of a letter from 2012, permitting the church, subject to conditions, to use part of the river reserve for additional parking space.
In an earlier report, the department had said it could not find a record of the letter.
DID had stated that the carpark site was needed for its ongoing river widening and upgrading project.
It added that there were concerns about potential riverbank erosion due to construction of a wall beside Sungai Kayu Ara.
The ongoing flood mitigation project aims to alleviate flooding risks in upstream areas and around the project site, such as Kampung Cempaka.
