|
Dramatic adjournment of PJ
local plan hearing
The Star 18/11/2005
THE hearing for the amendment to the Petaling Jaya Local Plan 1 (RTPJ1) was
called off yesterday with the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) having
to lodge a police report.
Selangor state exco member Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Dahlan, who co-chaired the
hearing, agreed to call it off when it was raised that two sets of the draft
plan were in circulation although MPPJ only recognised one of them.
The officially recognised copy sought to change the minimum land space for
service apartments reduced from two acres to one acre while the other copy
listed that minimum land space would remain at two acres.
Section 5 RA legal advisor Derek Fernandez, who discovered the discrepancy
when comparing notes with Keadilan vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah, said the
meeting could not go on because residents who were under the assumption that
there had been no change would be deprived of the opportunity to object at
the hearing.
“MPPJ should lodge a police report because there are two sets of official
documents being circulated to the public,” said Fernandez.
Prior to pointing out the discrepancy, Fernandez also pointed out that
proper procedure was not followed in presenting the draft for the hearing as
residents were not consulted before the drawing up of the draft plan as
required under Section 12(a) of the Town Planning Act 1976 (Act 172).
In view of this and the discrepancy in the draft plans, Sivarasa called for
the council to restart the whole process and consult residents to draw up a
new draft plan.
“Follow Section 12(a) and tell us who wants these amendments and the impact
assessment of such changes,” said Sivarasa. Mokhtar Dahlan agreed and said
MPPJ would start anew.
However, when asked after the meeting if the documents were now deemed void,
he said they were still valid.
“MPPJ will investigate this and we will get to the root of the issue. The
documents are still valid,” said Mokhtar Dahlan.
Asked to comment on Mokhtar’s statement, Fernandez said the whole process
was now void and illegal and that the process must be started afresh if they
wished to
proceed.
“They must call residents for pre-consultation before drawing up a fresh
draft. Then they must advertise in the papers that the draft is available
for inspection.
“Then residents must submit their objections within the time period and then
they can hold a fresh hearing to hear the objections,” he added.
On whether there would be another showcase for the public to look at the
draft plans, Selangor Department of Town and Country Planning director Datin
Paduka Dr Halimaton Saadiah Hashim said that was not a legal requirement.
“What is required is a notice,” said Halimaton, who advised residents to
always check the newspapers for such announcements.
Mokhtar Dahlan, Halimaton and Petaling district officer Mazalan Md Noor
chaired the meeting. Also present during the meeting were Bukit Gasing
assemblyman Datuk Dr Lim Thuang Seng, Kampung Tunku assemblyman Datuk Dr
Wong Sai Hou and MPPJ deputy president Zulkifli Ahmad.
Those present for the objection were representatives from Section 5A, Rukun
Tetangga (RT) Section 1 & 2, Section 8 Residents Association (RA), Section
14 RA, RT Taman Petaling and Gasing Indah, Frasers Tower Owners Association,
Cameron Towers Residents Association, Maxwell Tower Owners Association,
Gasing Indah KL RA, Gasing Indah PJ RA, Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall,
SJK(C) Damansara, Section 17A RA, DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
The meeting was supposed to start at 9.30am but was delayed for an hour as
Mokhtar Dahlan arrived 30 minutes late and needed another 30 minutes to be
briefed.
Victor Oorjitham ended the meeting by asking if the meetings could be held
on time in the future. Oorjitham said he was a councillor from 1970 to 1975
and meetings were always on time then. |
