The Federal Territories minister and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) should halt the high-density development in Taman Metropolitan Kepong until all questions are answered

The largest free of charge green lung and recreational park in Kepong - Taman Metropolitan - is no longer a haven to green and fitness lovers as part of the land is being developed by the Federal Territory Ministry into a high-density residential area.

Taman Metropolitan Kepong recreational park, 88.56ha land (lot 67619) was gazetted for public use on Nov 19, 2009 under Section 64 of the National Land Code.

Nevertheless, DBKL decided to de-gazette part of the land to pave the path for the high-density mixed development project. By law, adjacent residents should be notified about the de-gazettement to fulfill the requirement under Section 433 of the National Land Code.

However, only two notices were placed at the notice board at DBKL’s small office at the park and the land office’s notice board in Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin for the public to send in their objections between April 20 to 30, 2015. In addition, no announcements were made in newspapers such as News Straits Times and Utusan during that period regarding the land conversion.

As a result, DBKL claimed they have received no public objection which allowed the authorities to de-gazette 8.47ha of land on 15 June 2015 to make way for the mixed development project.

The mixed development project is a 2,986 unit high-rise residential project comprised of six towers and 35 units of 2 storey shophouses. The developer is Sinerjuta Sdn Bhd.

The residential units will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1 is Rumahwip Affordable Houses which provides 1,514 units in two 41-storey towers. Whereas Phase 2 is the Lake View Homes project, it consists of 1,472 units in four 45-storey towers.

The affordable housing project is conducted under the Rumah Mampu Milik Wilayah Persekutuan (Rumahwip) programme. It was opened for application on Sept 9, 2015 and a balloting process was done on Oct 5.

However, according to the Draft KL2020 City Plan, Taman Metropolitan Kepong is designated as a recreational public land, but not a residential area. So what made the ministry decide to convert the land?

Given the facts that we have found, the Kepong Citizen Network (KCN) demands that the Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL to answer the following questions before proceeding with the development project.

First, who is the current land owner? Federal Land Commissioner, DBKL, developer Sinerjuta or other third parties?

Second, since this is confirmed to be a piece of state land before, what is the price/land premium paid by the current land owner in order to ‘purchase’ the land from the authorities?

Third, the conversion of public recreational land to residential/mixed development project in Taman Metropolitan Kepong was justified by DBKL by using the affordable housing argument. That the federal government has set a target of 50,000 units in Kuala Lumpur.

Three components

However, the mixed development project has three components:

(i) Two blocks of 1,514 unit of Rumahwip - sold through government Rumahwip scheme to only qualified purchasers.

(ii) Four blocks of 1,472 unit of condominiums - sold by the developer in the open market.

(iii) Thirty-five unit of commercial shophouses - also sold by the developer in the open market.

Can DBKL justify the conversion of public recreational land to affordable housing since only a fraction of the said land is used to build affordable housing?

Fourth, why did DBKL put up the two public notices at insignificant places? Was it done purposely to avoid being notified by residents?

KCN urges the authority to halt the high density development in Taman Metropolitan Kepong until all questions are answered. Otherwise, the project will be perceived as another land grab scenario whereby state-owned land is being sold at unknown prices to a developer.

KEPONG CITIZEN NETWORK consists of several concerned Kepong residents who care about issues affecting the livelihood of Kepong people. Lee Chiun Min, Kelvin Tan, Lam Choong Wah, Chay Jin Jin, Lai Yak Guan, and Chen Yen Shan are the members of the network, while Yen Shan is the coordinator.