Yeoh: No, Taman Rimba project is a ‘trafficked baby’

PETALING JAYA: Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh has hit out at her fellow Pakatan Rakyat minister, Khalid Abdul Samad, over his stand on the Taman Rimba Kiara project.

Khalid, who is Federal Territories Minister, was quoted by online newsportal Malaysiakini that the project is like 'an unwanted baby'.

“I have to handle this so-called unwanted baby... If I can save the baby, why kill the baby?" he was quoted in the online newsportal.

The Family, Women and Community Development Deputy Minister, however, refuted Khalid, saying it is a 'wrong analogy'.

"Taman Rimba Kiara is a trafficked baby. Cannot be kept by Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan or the developer. (sic)," she wrote on her Facebook page.

Yeoh noted that the right thing to do is to return the “baby” to the rightful owner - the people. 

"That is how you save the baby. You kill the green lung by developing it," she pointed out.

Khalid was quoted by saying that since he has inherited the problem, he is trying his best to solve it.

"What I am trying to do here is protect public funds. People are saying to me just pay (compensation) the developer, and that DBKL has a lot of money.

"But that’s public funds we are talking about," Khalid was reported as saying.

He also had expressed 'disappointment' that Yeoh, and activist including C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel and former Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, had not come forward to see him on the matter.

Instead, Khalid said they have gone to the media with statements about the project, which are 'confusing, hurtful and embarrassing to him'.  

The Taman Rimba Kiara issue has resulted in a long drawn tussle between Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents and the authorities. 

After Pakatan Harapan came to power, Khalid, as minister renegotiated the deal with the developer and came out with a scaled-down version of the project that saw the number of residential units halved.