special report Thousands of residents in three condominiums and neighbourhoods around Bukit Gasing are crying foul over a proposed bungalow development project they claim is swathed in secrecy.

So secret is the project that no one knows the exact location, the developer or any specifics.

Residents in the 806 units of Gasing Condominiums - Fraser Towers, Maxwell Towers and Cameron Towers - first learnt about the project after receiving a written request for feedback from a PR firm hired by the developer who is cited only as 'Sanctuary Gasing'.

At a press conference yesterday, Maxwell Towers Owners Association chairperson Victor Oorjitham (right) said the proposed project has sent shockwaves among residents who are appealing for the prime minister's intervention to stop it.

"By contemplating development on the hill, the developer is risking the lives of (thousands) considering the proximity of the (Gasing Condominiums) and the surrounding dense population.

"They requested a 'community feedback survey' for the purpose of inclusion in an environmental impact assessment report."

The respective associations, he said, responded by asking for details on the developer, the designated site and the number and type of bungalows.

"It's been six weeks and the required information has not been supplied to us. They keep telling us that all will be revealed after the whole survey is completed but it is a farce in the absence of such information.

"The evasiveness and intentional withholding of information boggles our minds."

PR power

Public relations firm Arc Worldwide, part of Leo Burnett Advertising Sdn Bhd, has been engaged to handle the social impact assessment requirement of the EIA study commissioned by the developer.

The EIA consultant is Perunding Utama Sdn Bhd, whose works include the EIA study for the controversy-ridden mammoth incinerator project in Broga, near Semenyih.

On request earlier today, malaysiakini emailed Arc a set of questions for response by the developer, who failed to answer any of it in a statement faxed later in the evening.

In the letter to residents dated March 24, a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini , Arc introduced the proposed project as a "high-end, exclusive and low-density bungalow development".

Describing the exercise as "an effort to identify the community's needs and reservations regarding the said development", Arc asked Gasing Condominium residents to "take advantage of the 'open lines of communication' with Sanctuary Gasing".

References are made to a location "at Bukit Kerinchi in the Bukit Gasing area" which is "located approximately two kilometres away from the border of the gazetted green lung area".

Arc also asked Bukit Gasing residents whether there were plans for "social and leisure programmes within the Bukit Kerinchi Forest Reserve".

In the 1990s, a similar attempt was thwarted when City Hall rejected a single-phase proposal to develop bungalow lots, prompting the dissatisfied developer Gasing Meridian Sdn Bhd to appeal the decision. It was upheld all the way to the court of appeal.

The developer cited prohibitive costs and viability issues as grounds for appeal.

The Federal Territory Planning Appeals Board, in dismissing the appeal for "one-stage approval" with costs on Aug 25, 2000, found the whole proposed site "too steep and not suitable" to develop the 82 bungalows.

"We have visited the place and agreed with the DBKL views that if the company is to carry out the development of land as a whole in a single phase, it could not be done because contour of the land especially the upper part is too steep."

Second try

Residents suspect this to be a second attempt to develop an area of steep and hilly terrain behind Gasing Indah outside City Hall's demarcated development that borders Pantai Dalam.

There were concerns of an impending disaster given a giant water reservoir with a 21-million-gallon storage capacity perched on the hilltop behind the Gasing Condominiums.

"If the foundation (of the reservoir) is affected by any instability from the development below it, there will be serious problems," warned Victor, a vocal advocate of local democracy.

"Residents who had earlier responded to the survey one way or another have since retracted. We are unanimous in our objections."

He said the proposed development on the KL side of Bukit Gasing would come under City Hall. The other half in Selangor was gazetted as a green belt in 1961.

Gasing Indah residents action committee head R Satkunarajah (left), an engineer with 26 years experience, said he was alerted about the project by Victor who informed him of the survey.

"I'd like to know why more than 150 families in the houses and low-cost flats within the vicinity were left out of the survey.

"This is a very, very unstable hill. The numerous mini-landslides along the winding roads around Bukit Gasing every time it rains is a clear indication of disaster waiting to happen."

Disaster-in-waiting

Bob Holmes (right), a resident of Fraser Towers and a sports editor with a local daily, said water supply companies Puncak Niaga and Syabas may be unaware of the project.

Recalling several meetings with Puncak Niaga when the reservoir was being built in 1998, he said the company had placed a lot of emphasis on soil stability.

"They went to great lengths to plant trees and did a good job at replacing the affected forest area. (But) shouldn't the MPPJ (PJ municipal council) also be concerned about this?

"I really cannot believe that this has been approved (by City Hall). If this goes through, then anyone can build anything anywhere.

"A stand must be made now, not just because it's in our backyard but because it could also happen elsewhere."

Section 5 Residents Association chairperson Edward Lee (below left) said it was not a question of high-rise or low-rise project but the potential damage caused by hillslope development.

"Any disturbance to the topsoil will create major problems later and the government must be accountable for approvals of this nature."

He noted that there will not be any legal remedy available if ever there was a repeat of the Highland Towers tragedy due to a legal precedent.

"In that judgment, the approving authority was exonerated from any liability under Section 95(2) of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974."

For Bukit Gasing residents, the 15-year battle with developers is a continuing struggle to preserve the green belt for future generations.