DEVELOPMENTAL works at Taman Rimba Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail will not be allowed to begin until the project is approved by all affected residents, said Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad.

The ministry is still holding on to the planning approvals submitted by the developer as the government seeks to reach an agreement with residents who have long opposed the planned development, Khalid said.

“This issue is not resolved because there remains protests from the residents of TTDI. Because of that, I am not allowing any work to begin, until all the residents agree,” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya yesterday.

Khalid said he hoped for a resolution to the Taman Rimba stand-off between developers and residents before year-end, as the issue has dragged on from the Barisan Nasional administration.

He reiterated his call for all parties to reach a compromise, saying that under renegotiated terms, the developers have agreed to reduce the number of high rises from eight blocks to four.

“The developers are prepared to reduce the plot of land from 12 acres down to only eight. This means four will be returned.

“And the affordable apartments for residents of the longhouses will be continued as per the old agreement,” said Khalid.

“I want this resolved this year because the residents of the longhouse have waited 36 years to get their homes.”

Earlier this month, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh said the cabinet will make the final decision on the proposed Taman Rimba Kiara redevelopment and the fate of longhouse residents there, after Khalid presented two options to scale down development in the area.

One is an updated version of his predecessor Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s proposal and the other is Yeoh’s proposal to restrict the development to the longhouse’s footprint of 1.8ha.

The longhouse, where nearly 100 families of former Indian estate workers live, is adjacent to the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in TTDI and opposite the Taman Rimba Eco Park.

TTDI residents have been fighting the project ever since the park was rezoned for development by BN.

They claimed that the project was approved by former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor with elements of conflict of interest and corruption.

Khalid came under heavy criticism by residents’ groups and environmentalists earlier this year when he announced that the project would not be cancelled as Kuala Lumpur City Hall would have to fork out RM150 million to compensate the developer.

Lawyers Ambiga Sreenevasan and Derek Fernandez have said the contract “tainted with illegality” can be cancelled and terminated without having to take into account its binding terms. – April 23, 2019.