Residents: Stop hillslope project

04/06/2006 The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Residents in Bukit Mas in Taman Melawati here want a residential development project on a hillslope to stop.

“We don't want another tragedy to happen,” Bukit Mas Residents Ad Hoc Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Rosli Aziz said.

“After numerous landslides in the surrounding areas, we are shocked to find that the go-ahead has been given to a developer to build a block of seven-storey apartments and a block of six-storey town villas, totalling 74 units, on the slope.

“The nightmare is that the development sits directly above a row of 10 bungalows and three blocks of apartments and is separated by a stream,” he told a press conference yesterday.

About 30 residents turned up to voice their concern and appealed to the authorities “to cancel the project.” Ground work for the project is to start in October.

Mohd Rosli said that about six years ago, the banks of the stream had to be reinforced by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) following a heavy downpour that turned it into a raging river, causing severe soil erosion.

“The original development order was granted in the early 1990s but was put on hold after the Highland Towers tragedy.

“We found out in March that the developer had been given the green light to proceed, despite knowing the fragile condition of the land in the area,” he said.

The residents said they wrote of their concern to DBKL and the Federal Territories Ministry.

They received a reply from the FT Minister that “the project has already been approved, and we will take the necessary measures to ensure nothing untoward happens.”

A resident claimed that her compound collapsed recently, costing her about RM6,000 for repairs.

Nearby, a Taman Melawati Damai resident said a hill was being cleared to make way for housing development.

“The whole hill is bald and there are houses and schools nearby. We must act before a disaster happens,” he said.

At the construction site, a worker said they had recently been issued a stop-work order as they needed to build drainage for proper water flow.