City Hall has not given go-ahead for high-rise project, says mayor

The Star 29/9/2004 By CHOW HOW BAN

CITY HALL did not approve the building of a high-rise condominium project on a slope in Bukit Damansara.

Contrary to reports in a local daily, Datuk Bandar Datuk Mohmad Shaid Mohd Taufek said City Hall's town planning committee had yet to make a decision on the project near Lorong Basong.

“I am baffled as to why residents in the area are angry with me,'' he told Star Metro recently.

“The mayor has no power over land matters,'' he said. “It is like a Malay saying: belum duduk sudah berlunjur (to stretch out the legs before sitting).”

Mohmad Shaid said he had visited the site after reading the reports to reconfirm the area's status.

“The daily has been hitting out at me unfairly over the past few days and I want to clarify my position,” he said.

On Sept 23, it was reported in a daily that a developer had been granted approval to build a 14-storey condominium on the slope.

The daily quoted Segambut MP Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong as saying that he wanted to know the powers the mayor had as the project should not have been approved.

When contacted, Dr Tan said he was misquoted as he was also informed that no decision had been made on the proposed project after an objection hearing was conducted by City Hall.

However, he said, he had proposed to Parliament to better define the mayor's powers.

“The Bukit Damansara Residents Association feels that the power given to the Datuk Bandar is too wide on what can be built or what cannot be built. I am not asking for Section 22 (1) of Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 (Act 267) to be taken away because Datuk Bandar needs to retain such powers. What I am asking is the power to be better defined,” he said.

On March 4, a proposal for the project was submitted to City Hall's Planning and Building Control Department.

The department then issued a notice on the project in newspapers from June 14 to 16. It was followed by an objection hearing on Aug 4, but City Hall had not made any decision as yet.