THE Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents’ association (TTDI RA) has urged the mayor of Kuala Lumpur and the Federal Territories Foundation (YWP) not to appeal the court decision to quash the development order granted by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for condos in Taman Rimba Kiara.

The association said both parties should instead demonstrate their willingness to abide by the significant pronouncements issued by the Court of Appeal on January 27 and concentrate their resources on reforms in line with judicial guidance.

“As the representative body of thousands of tax-paying and rate-paying KL residents, we object to even more resources being used by DBKL and/or YWP to appeal a decision already so clear and definitive in its handling of the legal issues,” the association said in a statement.

“DBKL is a government agency and, as such, has a role to play to promote and safeguard the interest of the rakyat.

“Since this is a public interest initiative championed by the citizens of Kuala Lumpur and supported by the general public, we urge DBKL to perform that role and not to spend valuable resources to challenge the will of the people.

“We urge Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa, who is currently also chairman of YWP, to focus on delivering affordable landed units for the 98 longhouse families within the existing four-acre footprint of the longhouse area.”

Last week, a Court of Appeal panel comprising three judges – led by Federal Court Judge Mary Lim – unanimously decided that the development order obtained in 2017 by the joint venture (JV) of YWP and developer Memang Perkasa for the TRK project was null and void.

She set aside the High Court’s decision on November 28, 2018, which had dismissed the residents’ bid to stop the proposed mixed development project in TRK.

The judges ruled that there are appealable errors that warranted intervention by the appellate court.

The TTDI RA said it is willing to meet Annuar to discuss the townhouse permanent housing plan as proposed previously by the association.

“We request a meeting with the minister, at the soonest practicable time, to collectively engage on the aforesaid townhouse permanent housing plan, as proposed previously by the TTDI RA, which in our opinion would be an excellent showcase of the Wilayah Prihatin spirit,” it added.

It was previously reported that in 2014, YWP entered into a JV with Memang Perkasa to develop a 25-acre site in TRK.

TTDI residents protested against the proposed development comprising eight blocks of high-end serviced apartments and one block of affordable housing apartments for residents of the Bukit Kiara longhouses, which had gained conditional planning permission and development order by DBKL.

Following protests by TTDI residents, then federal territories minister Khalid Samad proposed a scaled-down development plan, which instead featured four blocks of serviced apartments and 204 affordable housing units. – February 6, 2021.