FEDERAL Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor today told Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents that he was not to blame for the High Court’s dismissal of their application to stop a luxury housing project in Taman Rimba Kiara.

“Please don’t blame me and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (City Hall) for their loss (in court) and for the costs that the court has asked them to pay,” Tengku Adnan said in a statement.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court last week dismissed the TTDI residents’ application for a stay order, and to pay costs of RM10,000 each to respondents City Hall, landowner Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan, developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd, and Sunderam Residents’ Association.

Tengku Adnan insisted that the plan to build nine blocks of 2,000 units of serviced apartments and a tower of 350 affordable housing units was a boon to the people.

To ease traffic congestion in the area, he said, the developer had been instructed to build 60 parking bays, while two roads would be closed to the   new development.

“I hope the public will support us in our endeavour to provide proper housing in Kuala Lumpur for the poor and the people who need affordable homes,” he said.

He claimed Taman Rimba Kiara had never been gazetted as a public park, and that 5.8ha of the park would be preserved.

“I am a responsible person and I have said that I would not touch Taman Rimba Kiara.”

He alleged that the opposition and foreign forces were behind the TTDI residents’ objections to the project, and that it was their intention to make  Barisan Nasional look bad.

The Save Taman Rimba Group claim that the government divided the 10ha Taman Rimba Kiara into two plots of land in 2014 without consulting the public.

They contend that the park is designated as a “city park” in the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 and as “public open space” in the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020. 

Tengku Adnan has not addressed these claims.

TTDI and longhouse residents objecting to the luxury development project are urging the government to build the affordable homes but scrap the proposed high-end serviced apartments to preserve the park.

Following the High Court’s dismissal of their application for a stay order for the project, the TTDI residents are appealing to the appellate court for the order. – December 19, 2017.