KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) needs to be more transparent on development in the city for the benefit of residents, newly minted Wangsa Maju lawmaker Zahir Hassan said.

The first time PKR MP said data pertaining to large development projects in his area and around the city must be made available to all stakeholders.

He said the residents need to see the data on traffic impact assessment (TIA), social impact assessment and increase in density for projects.

“To maximise profits developers will be asking to increase the density for their projects.

“The issue is if they (DBKL) allow for increase in density then the city council has to ensure the surroundings of the project be upgraded as well,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Zahir, 63, said during campaigning, he had received about 36 complaints of various natures, including about development, density and haphazard parking.

He said the authorities cannot allow an increase in density while the infrastructure is not upgraded.

“Residents have asked for the TIA report when there was a development project, but none was given. The residents were told the information was not accessible to them.

“If the residents can’t get the information, then how are they going to know the scope of the project?

“When they can’t get the details, then they become concerned, worried and have a negative perception of the authorities.

“This has to stop. For example, the TIA should be made accessible for the people here,” Zahir said.

He said that the people are not against development, but the authorities have to be more transparent.

“The people need the opportunity to give their feedback and it should be a win-win situation for all stakeholders. I will be checking with DBKL on this issue.”

He added that for advanced countries, information is shared so society knows what is happening.

“But here, that’s got to change, because we have to ensure the people are better provided with the right information.”

Zahir said he will be contacting the Local Government Development Ministry as certain policies have to be dealt with on a federal level.

As for the issue of parking, which is a bane all over the city, he said he will be contacting Tenaga Nasional Bhd to convert open space under their transmission lines into car parks.

“This could help to ease road congestion and parking issues.”

As for welfare aid for the people, he wants to look at phasing out handouts and look for more sustainable programmes to assist the people by providing education to improve their skills.

On floods, he said DBKL has to implement stringent conditions on contractors and developers to ensure there is no serious flooding by having a more effective quick-response team. 

“Development in the city could also contribute to flash floods. As such, (DBKL) has to be more prudent in checking and monitoring the conditions of the development order.

“Developers should not cut costs and should be more responsible.”

Zahir has been with PKR since 1999 serving in a variety of positions. He is currently PKR chief organising secretary and Titiwangsa branch chief.

In a six-cornered fight in the general election, he won the seat with a majority of 20,696 votes. – December 10, 2022.