Residents left in the dark on study of PJ draft plan

comments     Claudia Theophilus     Published     Updated

The Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) did not release the feasibility study on the controversial PJ1 local plan draft today — the deadline set by the Section 5 Residents Association following its written request to the council on May 2.

Association chairperson Edward Lee said today that the residents were left disappointed again after an earlier request for a report of the feasibility study was also "verbally" rejected.

The draft plan seeks to change the satellite township into a bustling city through a host of residential, commercial and infrastructure developments which will increase its population and traffic volume.

On May 2, the Section 5 Residents Association wrote in to the MPPJ requesting for the feasibility study so that they could determine what factors were considered and how the recommendations were reached by the Klang-based consultancy firm, Jururancang Sepakat Sdn Bhd, which drafted the plan for MPPJ.

The letter was sent to MPPJ president Emran Kadir, planning development director Sharifah Marhaini Syed Ali and its legal advisor Muttalib Mohd Ali.

Among other things, the feasibility study supports the road-widening proposals and the construction of the interchanges at the Jalan Othman roundabout and the proposed conversion of bungalow lots for commercial use along Jalan Gasing.

But silence stayed when the deadline given by the association for the MPPJ's reply expired today.

Input not considered

Lee told malaysiakini today that the feasibility study should have considered input from residents of the affected areas before recommendations were made.

"In this case, the consultation process was absent. Otherwise, it would have shown that some of the roads earmarked for widening were unsuitable as the residents would have objected to the inevitable acquisition of their land for that purpose.

"We are demanding for the feasibility study and until we are convinced that it was properly carried out, we will not be satisfied with the draft plan.

"We are dumbfounded as to how the authorities had come up with the study without consulting us. This is why we are doubting the recommendations."

Lee said the study was very important because the residents' well-being and future depended on it, and they had a right to know what its contents were.

Several groups, representing thousands of PJ residents, are expected to submit their objections to the MPPJ as required by law before the objection period ends this Saturday.



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