Yeoh credits PM for Taman Rimba Kiara permanent housing

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh credited Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for a cabinet decision that will end the seven-year ordeal of Taman Rimba Kiara longhouse residents in her constituency.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament today, she said it was recently decided that permanent housing must be built on a four-acre (1.6ha) piece of land there.

The land, she said, was initially allocated as a temporary resettlement site for former workers of the Bukit Kiara rubber estate when the area was first developed.

“After seven years of battle in court, the residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail can finally have an executive reassurance that prioritises new houses for residents of the longhouses while maintaining Taman Rimba Kiara as a green space.

“We thank the prime minister for the most recent cabinet decision. After the Federal Court decided on Taman Rimba Kiara, the cabinet decided that we must build permanent housing for the longhouse residents,” she said.

Last year, the residents won a landmark case in the Federal Court after the apex court dismissed an appeal by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP), and developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd to reinstate a controversial development order over parts of Taman Rimba Kiara.

Asked to clarify when the government would start building the houses, Yeoh said the cabinet only decided on the need for permanent houses and the location.

“This land was given to YWP. The cabinet decision is that if YWP and DBKL want to develop it, it must not go beyond four acres.

“Taman Rimba Kiara must be green while also giving priority to the longhouse housing. That’s the cabinet decision,” she added.

In 2017, DBKL allowed a RM3 billion project at Taman Rimba Kiara to proceed, which would have comprised eight blocks of 50-storey luxury condominiums and one block of affordable apartments.

It would have taken up 4.9ha (12.1 acres) - almost half of the 10.1ha (24.9 acre) Taman Rimba Kiara.

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