FRUSTRATED by 10 years of flood woes, residents around Kampung Cheras Baru do not want another housing project on a nearby hill slope to worsen the situation.  

About 100 representatives from Ketumbar Heights and Ketumbar Hill condominiums, Cheras Ria and Cheras Utama apartments as well as Kampung Cheras Baru shops and factories came forward to urge the Ampang Municipal Council and City Hall to disapprove a housing project on Bukit Seputeh Forest Reserve, recently submitted to them for approval.  

Among them were presidents and committee members of residents’ associations in these areas.  

They put their signatures down on two letters to be sent to Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and mayor Datuk Ruslin Hassan.  

Tan (right) helping residents put their signatures to the campaign.

Copies of the letter will be forwarded to the Prime Minister as well as all relevant ministries.  

Prior to that, Ketumbar Heights Residents’ Association had already collected 1,000 signatures opposing the housing project.  

Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai was with the residents, showing drafts and documentation on the housing project.  

Tan said City Hall had made an allocation of more than RM2mil for flood mitigation projects in the area, believed to be caused by two housing developments on the hill slope.  

He added that a RM3.7mil flood retention pond was also recently approved.  

Construction scheduled to take 47 weeks would start as soon as the families living in about 20 squatter houses at the site were moved to public flats.  

“If this project is approved, all these efforts will be futile,” he stressed.  

He explained that although MPAJ is the authority to approve the project, the developer must also obtain the green light from City Hall according to regulations outlined by the Border Committee.  

The 11.69ha site of the housing project sits on the border of Selangor and the Federal Territory.  

“The PM said during the recent Budget announcement that development on hill slopes should be given extra precaution.  

“The two authorities must weigh this project carefully, especially when the gradient of the slope is steeper than its neighbouring area that has been filled with dense development, which has brought about nightmarish flooding problems to residents here,” he said.  

“Even if MPAJ asks for flood mitigation measures as prerequisites, developers who want to maximise profits may not do what they have promised.  

“The best way is still to disapprove the housing project,” added Tan.  

The group later formed a committee to fight for the cause and hope to collect 10,000 signatures in support of their efforts