KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has shot down claims by residents’ groups that it has been approving developments in the city illegally.

Mayor Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said there is no such thing as illegal developments in Kuala Lumpur.

“All development projects in Kuala Lumpur must go through DBKL’s planning committee.

“The projects must be vetted by the One-Stop Centre (OSC). This is mandatory (for approval). There are no illegal projects,” he told The Malaysian Insight today.

Amin was commenting on civil group Selamatkan KL or Save KL (SKL) head Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman who said DBKL has been approving development projects illegally.

The veteran lawyer said the group is up in arms over new projects in already densely populated suburbs.

He had said that DBKL committed two main errors: altering development plans without going through the proper legal process, and failing to approve the city’s local plan within a reasonable time.

Aziz said that DBKL had approved altered development plans, such as changing of land status, and it had not approved the local plan according to the requirements of the law.

SKL includes residents’ associations of Bukit Damansara, Medan Damansara, Mont Kiara and Lucky Gardens in Bangsar.

Amin said that if private landowners want to develop any land, they would have to make a submission to DBKL.

“We will have to bring it to the OSC for approval. If they do not get the approval. we will stop the project for sure.

“All projects must have planning approval. That is our standard operating procedure.”

Amin also said that DBKL engages with various organisations on the developments in the city.

“If the group thinks that the city is overdeveloped, we have been having meetings with the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) every two months.

“We will discuss the developments in Kuala Lumpur and compare them with other cities in Asia, such as Bangkok and Jakarta.

“Compared with these cities, our density is still low per capita,” he said.

Amin said that because of the low density, high-rise buildings were a priority.

“Our population is low. So what they (SKL) are talking about doesn’t make sense.

“We have been constantly engaging with Pemudah and they have been supporting us.”

As for concerns that overdevelopment in the city would cause social problems, Amin said that was under the purview of the police.

The local plan, called the KL City Plan 2020, has not been gazetted even though it was launched in 2008.

Last year, DBKL said it is pointless to gazette the plan as it is outdated and due to expire.

Instead, Amin said there would be discussions to draft a new plan, the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2050. – February 15, 2018.