TAMAN Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents want a court order to halt the construction of a high-rise apartments in Taman Rimba Kiara that will cause “irreversible” harm to hundreds of animal and plant species, some of them endangered and protected by law.

“Any continued work will result in irreversible damage,” Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) Residents’ Association association lawyer Balan Nair told Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Kamaludin Md Said today.

He said continued construction would lead to the destruction of hundreds of plants and animal species which are protected by law.

“They will start chopping down trees and that has an irreversible effect,” Balan said, in regard to an ongoing project to build high-rise apartments in the 25-acre park in TTDI.

“There must be consideration of the permanent effect of land clearing.

“Our position is that a stay is sought…  a preservation of status quo pending the disposal of the substantive hearing,” he said 

Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd, a unit of Malton Bhd, is building the apartments. 

The land is developed in a joint venture with Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan, welfare arm of the Federal Territories Ministry. 

Five residents’ and five management bodies in August jointly filed for judicial review of City Hall and the mayor’s decision to allow the development. 

Today, the groups submitted an application for an order to freeze any action arising from the conditional planning permission and development order while the suit is pending.

Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan, Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd, and the Sunderam longhouse residents’ association were the intervenors in court today. 

The developers have argued that they were deprived of the right to develop the land and that the land was not intended to be a green lung as it was no longer zoned as part of Rimba Park. 

Development costs so far are RM150 million.

The developers propose to build 2,000 high-end residential units in nine high-rise blocks, plus one tower with 350 units for more than long house residents. More than 100 families living in the longhouses in the area have been promised new homes in the development by the city council.

At the hearing today, the judge Kamaludin said there should be consideration for the families.

“You’d rather see birds in the trees (while) see(ing) these people roam the streets without a home,” he told Balan.

Balan replied that it was a matter of public interest: “Please look at the proposed development as a whole. The totality of it all,” adding that the families were not homeless and that the project had expanded “far beyond” the scale that was set.

“And they (the developers) have not shown that a stay would have any impact,” Balan said.

The residents are appalled that City Hall has given Memang Perkasa the green light to proceed with the project, including the construction of a sales gallery to showcase the units for sale.

Two weeks ago, the TTDI Residents’ Association held a protest against approval for the proposed development that was granted on November 6 – three days after Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told the residents in a dialogue session that Taman Rimba Park would be untouched.  

Tengku Adnan is the Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan chair.

“The minister (Tengku Adnan) said he would never ever touch Rimba Kiara Park, but three days later, City Hall approved the showroom,” said TTDI Resident Association chairman Hafiz Abu Bakar 

“It’s very clear they don’t have the public’s interest at heart. You don’t just take a public park and turn it to condominiums,” he said. – December 13, 2017.