Boost for fight against development
THE STAR 28/7/2005

THE Taman Mastiara House-buyers and Residents' Association's fight for a 2.74ha plot next to the Batu Metropolitan Park nearby to be preserved as part of the park received a boost when officials from the Prime Minister's Department visited the site recently.

The visit came about following persistent complaints from the association, which also forwarded a memorandum to City Hall, the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Federal Territories Ministry.

The association were protesting against a proposal by STIR Sdn Bhd to build 48 semi-detached houses on the plot, previously a car park and access roads for park users.

It is learnt that the 28ha park, in Kuala Lumpur, is owned by the Federal Land Commission and maintained by City Hall, while the 2.74ha was given to STLR, a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, for housing development in 2003.

A Development Order was granted to the developer, Crystal Hill Properties Sdn Bhd, last year. The company is also the developer of the nearby Taman Tasik Indah project.

Association president Nadzry Abd Hamid said the association hoped to find out the truth concerning why the land was given to STLR Sdn Bhd for development.

"My emphasis is that recreational parks and greenery must be preserved at all times.

We want the development to be cancelled and relocated else where," he said. He urged the Government to set up a committee to deal with issues pertaining to the sacrifice of the environment in the name of development.

"If we sacrifice this piece of land, we can do the same thing in other places," he added.