MEMBERS of Parliament in the capital should “wake up” and guard the city against overdevelopment and approvals for surplus development, said the head of a coalition of residents’ associations today.

Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur chairman Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said not only MPs, but political parties should fight for sustainable development in the city.

“The political parties should also raise this issue, all the MPs of Kuala Lumpur should raise this issue, they should wake up.

“I think they don’t understand and are totally ignorant of all the problems in Kuala Lumpur,” Aziz told The Malaysian Insight at the World Urban Forum 9 (WUF9) at KLCC Convention Centre, today.

Aziz, who represents more than 30 residents’ associations, was at the event to protest and to hand over a memorandum regarding overdevelopment to City Hall. As senior officials were not present at the event to receive the memorandum, Aziz said he would hand it over to the City Hall planning department director Mohd Najib Mohd on February 22.

“I think a lot of people don’t know when there are applications for development, they use the Kuala Lumpur Structure 2020 plan (for reference), but it is not enough.

 “This is because they have not gazetted the plan, and they simply approve high-rise developments (as they like) quietly,” Aziz said.

Opposition MPs have previously accused City Hall of operating like a “secret society” that changes the status of land as it pleases without having to account for its decisions.

As the Kuala Lumpur Structure 2020 plan was not gazetted and due to be replaced, the authorities were free to change the status of the land for the development of Kuala Lumpur, they said.

“Today our objective is to highlight this,” said Aziz.

Aziz’s deputy in the coalition,  M. Ali, told The Malaysian Insight that their objective was also to democratise the local councils.

“City Hall is being led by its own appointed advisory board members, it should be democratised and elected by the people.

“The members and the mayor should be elected by the citizens of Kuala Lumpur for the citizens of Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

He said the memorandum for City Hall’s attention was centred democratising the city council, community participation, protection of green spaces and to compel the city authority to gazette and enforce a local plan.

“City Hall is supposed to represent the people, but where are the people in the council?” he said. – February 10, 2018.