SELANGOR has dismissed claims surrounding a parcel of land near the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve in Puchong, clarifying that the site is not safe for commercial or residential development due to its Class 3 and Class 4 slope conditions.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said that stand has been affirmed by the Federal Court.
“The state administration has never approved any development in the area,” he said in a media statement.
He said the land in Permatang Kumbang, Pusat Bandar Puchong, was not part of a permanent forest reserve, as it had been degazetted in 1926.
“At the time, Puchong was known as Kampung Pulas and Malaya was under British rule.”
On the issue of development, Amirudin said the current administration had not granted any approval.
Instead, he said the land was alienated in 1996 by the then state government to two companies for a low-cost housing project.
“However, the development proposal was rejected in 2003 after 75% of the site was found to fall under Class 3 and 4 categories of slopes, making it unsuitable for development.
“The state government later cancelled the project on Aug 18, 2010, and revoked the land alienation.
“This led to legal action by the developers, who filed a judicial review against Subang Jaya Municipal Council (now MBSJ) and the state government in 2011, with the case eventually reaching the Federal Court in 2017.
“Both the Court of Appeal and Federal Court ruled in favour of the local authority, confirming that the decision to reject development due to slope conditions was correct.”
On the land value, Amirudin said a property consultant appointed in 2012 assessed it at RM13.02 per sq ft, or RM95.3mil.
“The land was subsequently sold via open tender for RM101mil, which was 5.9% above the valuation.”
He said the matter had also been raised by residents, with representatives from 14 residents associations meeting Kinrara assemblyman Ng Sze Han to seek clarification.
“Ng had attended the session to hear residents’ concerns and feedback following the circulation of claims regarding the land.”
Amirudin said three claims had been raised, namely that the land was forest reserve land, that development had been approved and that it had been sold below market value.
“Two of these issues had already been clarified earlier, but false claims are still being repeated,” he said.
He noted that residents had also proposed maintaining hiking routes leading towards the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve.
“This will be brought to the state executive council and discussed with the landowner,” he said.
On April 16, Subang MP Wong Chen held a press conference where he criticised the Selangor government for its silence regarding the sale of approximately 68.4ha of land near the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve after he had requested for answers three times since December last year.
