Stakeholders want to discuss the development of Bukit Dinding in Wangsa Maju which is seen here cleared for development. — Filepic
IT is going to be a race against time for Kuala Lumpur residents who now have a little over a month to submit their final feedback for the draft Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2040 (KLSP2040) before it is gazetted.
Stakeholders have until May 31 to submit their suggestions.
The final report that was released online via the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) website on April 13 contained over 316 pages of information including maps and graphs.
Kuala Lumpur Residents’ Associations Plus (KLRA+) comprising 55 residents associations and Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur (SKL) have established a core team to scrutinise the plan.
SKL chairman Datuk M. Ali said the team would be going through everything throughout the Hari Raya holidays too before submitting the feedback.
“From a quick glance, I noticed many questions and objections were not addressed and no justifications were given.
“At this stage, we are trying to identify all the points we made earlier and see if any has been addressed, and if not, we hope this will be done at a separate session later,” he said.
The KLSP2040 is a blueprint that outlines the goals, development strategies and policies of Kuala Lumpur’s development for the next 20 years.
Its draft plan was published for public feedback in 2020.
Ali addressing issues at the March 29 town hall session on the draft KLSP2040.
In July the same year, SKL participated in a hearing and submitted more than 60 pages of input highlighting improvements that could be made and factual omissions.
Some of the input on the draft KLSP2040 concerned a lack of clear strategy to address the shortfall of open space and errors on existing land use.
Ali said some of SKL’s suggestions were not considered including turning stretches of Jalan Abdullah in Bangsar, which is connected to open spaces in the Bukit Persekutuan (Federal Hill) township, up to Bank Negara into a green heritage trail.
The group, he said, also pushed for Bukit Kiara, Bukit Kerinchi and Bukit Dinding to be turned into urban forest parks.
“We hope to be given the opportunity to find out why.
“We also hope for more time because the May 31 deadline is too short,” he added.
Friends of Bukit Dinding president Jonson Chong said the latest report did not give enough information on the development in their area.
“Let’s take the proposed zoning and/or development of Bukit Dinding in Wangsa Maju-Setiawangsa as an example.
“If you compare the original draft of the KLSP2040 and the latest report, it seems that they have made an effort to maintain Bukit Dinding as a green recreational area.
“However, if you look at the KL City Plan 2020 (KLCP2020), you will find that significant portions of it are zoned for residential use.”
Chong said the final report did not give enough information to clarify whether the planned residential developments would continue.
“Thus, the report gives an impression that feedback has been taken into consideration but it does not give stakeholders sufficient information to evaluate whether the changes are real or merely cosmetic,” he added.
On April 5, the coalition had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to postpone the approval of the draft KLSP2040.
They called for their input to be included in the approved plans and for the latest amendments to be made public.
Anwar agreed to delay the gazettement of the draft KLSP2040 and stakeholders were given the May 31 deadline to provide feedback.
Ali said the decision to call for the postponement of the draft plan came when residents attended a town hall session with DBKL on March 29, and at the meeting, experts were vague about a lot of information.
“They were not able to answer many questions, the power point presentation was barely legible and some of their answers on green spaces were not acceptable.
“Their response on the shortfall of open spaces for residents to be replaced with rooftop vertical gardens did not make sense since rooftop gardens are not accessible to the general public.”
DBKL has now set six public engagement sessions to gather feedback.
The sessions will be on May 18, 19, 23, 24, 25 and 26 from 8.30am to 12.30pm at Dewan Megapuri Tingkat 30 Menara DBKL 1, Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur.
