Residents should have their say
The Sun 11/05/2005 By Goh Ban Lee
RESIDENTS of Taman Mastiara in Kuala Lumpur are against the building of 48
semi-detached houses on land that they believe to be part of the Batu
Metropolitan Park.
Taman Nirwana Phase II residents in Ampang Jaya object to a proposal to
build workshops on a drainage reserve to relocate illegal ones nearby.
Residents along Jalan Aziz Ibrahim in Penang protest against stage buses
using the road to go to the new RM5.8 million terminal.
There are objections against the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council's plans
to turn part of Jalan SS21/39 into a bazaar.
Subang Jaya residents want the Subang Ria park gazetted to prevent
encroaching commercial outlets masquerading as recreational activities.
The above are only samplings of the frustrations of many Malaysians about
development in their neighbourhoods. But do the authorities take seriously
their objections and views? Do Malaysians have a say in the development of
their neighbourhoods?
There are legal provisions for owners of neighbouring lots within 20m of a
project in an area without local plans to be informed and facilitated to
voice their objections.
The decision to approve or reject a planning application, however, is
entirely up to the president and councillors.
Those dissatisfied with the council's decisions can take their case to the
Appeals Board, but there is no guarantee of success.
This is fair, as some objections are frivolous.
But many development projects can adversely affect those living more than
20m away.
Essential facilities such as hawker centres, highways and landfills and
even houses of worship do cause problems to surrounding residents.
Non-compliance with municipal rules and civic duties often make matters
worse.
As such, residents and shop owners adversely affected by projects stage
protests, write to the papers and call up their representatives in the
government to voice their objections.
Some have been successful. However, nothing is cast in stone yet.
Although a detailed study into the secrets of these successes is
warranted, it is strongly believed that support of the mass media,
including weblogs, is crucial.
It also helps to have friends in the right places, although every
Malaysian, at least publicly, abhors the "know-who" syndrome of getting
things done.
The Town and Country Planning Act provides for public participation to
formulate structure and local plans. But structure plans are basically
broad-brush policy plans. By themselves, they are useless as instruments
of development control.
Local plans show in detail the future development of an area. However,
very few have been displayed for public objections and gazetted as legal
documents.
Furthermore, public participation in structure plans and local plans has
no binding effect.
Unless those in charge are progressive minded, it can degenerate into
little more than formality designed to allow the public to comment while
protecting the authorities' interests to do what they already have in
mind.
Effective participation also requires access to information. Government
bodies and private corporations in Malaysia are very stingy with data and
figures. A freedom of information law is long overdue.
Meanwhile, things could be made better for effective public participation
in the local authorities. For instance, meetings to consider planning
permissions could be opened to the public.
At the very least, all planning applications and their latest status and
proposed projects by state and federal government should be displayed on
public notice boards and websites of local authorities.
Dr Goh Ban Lee can be contacted at gohbanlee@yahoo.com. |
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