THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed October 23 for case management on the lawsuit by Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). 

Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group lawyer Aliff Benjamin Suhaimi said the judge couldn’t hear the case as she had been called for an urgent meeting at the Chief Justice office.

“She then pushed the matter to Judge Wira Kamaludin Md Said,” Aliff said.  

Aliff said Wira Kamaludin was supposed to hear the case but was at the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the central bank’s foreign exchange losses. 

Federal Territories Foundation, Memang Perkasa the developer and one of the two longhouse residents associations (Sundaram RA) have now submitted applications to intervene in the Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group action. 

The three proposed intervenors are asking for leave from court to intervene in the action, and  for the stay hearing to be postponed until their intervenor applications have been disposed.  

“We will let the judge decide that on October 23,” he said. 

Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group coordinator Leon Koay said: “We have been applying for a stay and we hope it will be granted.

“As our grievance is against DBKL, we are questioning their decision on the matter. 

“We did not join any other intervening parties as our focus is on DBKL,” he said.

Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents discovered a DBKL notice a year ago which announced a mammoth development that would obliterate much of Taman Rimba Kiara. 

On May 7 this year, after its protests fell on deaf ears, the resident’s association announced it would sue DBKL to stop the project, which it claims is mired in secrecy and conflict of interest.

In August last year, residents’ representatives attended a public hearing and found in addition to a 29-storey block of an affordable housing flat, and eight blocks of high-end apartments on a 4.86ha land, a six-lane highway has been earmarked to cut through the  affluent TTDI neighbourhood.

When the RM3 billion project was made public on June 14, 2016, TTDI’s residents’ association submitted more than 5,000 signatures against it. – October 12, 2017.