A proposed meeting between Warisan Merdeka developer PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd and  groups opposing the 118-storey tower has fallen through, with PNB and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) both passing the buck for public consultation to the other.

Last Wednesday, the PNB subsidiary sent a letter to various organisations inviting them to a closed-door briefing on the project to be held at the company’s Ampang headquarters today.

azlan However, six of the organisations who received the invitation, including Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH), Pertahankan Taman Merdeka Negara (PTMN) and a school affected by the project, declined the meeting, saying that any briefings should be made open to the public.

In a collective letter to PNB, the group said, “We strongly disagree with the manner in which this briefing was initiated and is to be conducted. We demand that the briefing be conducted openly with the participation of all of us together.”

The group went on to outline the terms of engagement to be agreed upon by PNB before any future meeting is to take place, including that the briefing be made open to the public and documents such as social and environmental impact reports be presented.

Malaysiakini visited the PNB office and the planned meeting venue today, and found only a small group who were holding private discussions present.

When contacted by phone, a public relations representative from PNB who declined to be named said that they thought a briefing would be held by DBKL and that they weren’t certain if any future briefings by PNB would go ahead.

When contacted, an officer from DBKL media department said that as far as DBKL was concerned the development was now in PNB’s hands and any public briefing should be held by them.  

Stanley Yong from PTMN confirmed that the group had been informed by PNB that the briefing had been cancelled and that PNB had declined give any time-frame for a future briefing or even confirm if one would take place.

Continual protests from local land owners

There have been continual protests against the mega-tower from local land owners, NGOs and the opposition, who are concerned that the building would have a negative impact on the area.

They also claim the public was not consulted before the building was approved

The tower was originally slated to be 509m, which later increased to 600m. PNB claimed that despite the increase, the building would only remain at 100 storeys. However, the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry later confirmed there was an increase to 118 storeys .

In a press statement yesterday, PTMN said that their objections had fallen on deaf ears at DBKL, and if PNB were only trying to silence opposition then there was no point in a briefing.

The statement said, “Until now, DBKL has not called for a public hearing as required by the law, even though they have received numerous objection letters from the community as well as individuals.

“Instead it is the developer that has called for a closed-door briefing. There is no meaning for this ‘briefing’ if the purpose of the ‘briefing’ is for PNB to shut the people’s voices.”

azlan