The Bohol flood retention pond spanning 37.8ha is located next to Kesas highway — Photos: YAP CHEE HONG & FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
Sources reveal that parts of the second biggest flood retention pond in Kuala Lumpur is under threat from a housing project.
Land surrounding the Bohol flood retention pond in the Seputeh constituency has been proposed to be alienated to a private developer.
Despite assurance from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) that no development order has been issued, alienating land surrounding flood retention ponds for development can be a major factor leading to floods.
The devastating mid-December flood in 2021 cost the capital city an estimated RM30mil in losses.
If the proposal to alienate land near the Bohol pond is approved, it will mean five out of 15 important flood retention ponds in Kuala Lumpur (see chart) have been earmarked for development.
None of the 15 are gazetted as flood retention ponds, making them vulnerable to interested third parties.
This not only jeopardises the city’s flood prevention efforts but also raises concerns of increased flooding in the future.
The Taman Wahyu and Delima ponds in Kepong were approved for development in 2017.
The alienation of the Batu and Batu 4 ½ ponds meant that parts of the area surrounding the pond have been transferred to a third party and could be developed in the future.
Based on documents sighted by StarMetro, the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur Land and Mines Office (PTGWP) gave conditional approval to a company to alienate part of Lot 102996 (proposed alienated part of Bohol pond) for development on Oct 22, 2021.
The proposal includes a residential project consisting of freehold units (60%) and affordable housing (40%).
“Alienating land is just the same as selling it.
“The developer has been given conditions to fulfil, and if it is able to do so, it can develop the land,” said a source.
The source added that any proposal to transfer ownership of government land should be through open tender, which was not done in this case.
When contacted, former PTGWP director Datuk Muhammad Yasir Yahya confirmed that the alienation process was still in the proposal stage.
Muhammad Yasir Yahya says the alienation process is still at the proposal stage.
“The government already has plans to straighten part of Sungai Kuyoh (which overflows into the Bohol pond) as part of flood mitigation measures,” he said.
“The water input at this location is awkward, which causes back flow and subsequent flooding during heavy rainfall.
“A proposal was brought for a private company to carry out this portion of the works,” he said.
Muhammad Yasir, who is now senior undersecretary of the Land, Survey and Geospatial Division of the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry, said that the river once straightened would create new land which could then be alienated to a third party.
“Proposal doesn’t mean approved. If a proposal comes in, we will have to study it.
“If the technical agencies do not agree, it cannot proceed.”
Bohol retention pond
The 37.8ha Bohol flood retention pond is located next to Sungai Kuyoh and is surrounded by several areas including Kampung Muhibbah in Kuala Lumpur, Taman Kinrara in Selangor as well as high-rises along the Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas).
The Federal Territories Department (formerly the Federal Territories Ministry) is custodian for the Bohol pond.
Sources said they were concerned that the pond’s capacity would be jeopardised if the land was developed.
They said they had put forward strong objections but their views were not taken into consideration.
In an August 2022 letter, Kuala Lumpur Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) opposed development on the land as the pond was part of a RM300mil Sungai Kuyoh Basin Flood Mitigation Plan expected to take off in October this year.
In an assessment report of the project, its consultants said the Bohol pond’s capacity was not big enough for excess rainwater.
Sungai Kuyoh flows into the Bohol flood retention pond.
The Bohol pond is also important to ensure Sungai Klang’s downstream is not overburdened during a downpour.
The floods on Dec 18, 2021 and March 7 last year caused water from the Bohol pond to overflow and flood Kesas and Kinrara Court nearby.
The overflow was due to Sungai Kuyoh breaking its banks after a downpour.
“The fact that the system at the Awan Besar toll plaza along Kesas were damaged after the March 7 floods speaks volumes about how serious the situation was,’’ said one source.
According to all the sources, objections were brought to the attention of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land Exco (JKTWPKL), land office director, DID Malaysia, DBKL and even the landowner, which is the Federal Territories Department, but no one took heed of their concerns.
JKTWPKL, which decides on government reserve land matters, comprises the Kuala Lumpur mayor, Kuala Lumpur land office director and representatives of Federal Territories Department, PM’s Department, and Finance Ministry among others.
“If the development is allowed to proceed, it will be a disaster waiting to happen.
“The memories of the Dec 18 (2021) floods are still fresh in the minds of thousands of residents in the Klang Valley who were adversely affected,” they said.StarMetro reached out to the Kuala Lumpur DID corporate communications unit about the Bohol pond development.
Its department head Farihah Mohd Thalha responded: “Bohol pond belongs to the Federal Territories Department. Currently no development project has started on the site and any development in Kuala Lumpur will be approved by the One-Stop Centre (DBKL OSC) before the project’s commencement.’’
Following a check with DBKL’s planning department, an officer revealed that the developer of the project had yet to submit planning permission.
“Senior officers from DBKL, land office went to the site last year to look at the land,” said the officer, adding that the visit was also to facilitate the Bohol flood mitigation project which is supposed to start this year.
A moonson drain filled with rubbish at the Bohol flood retention pond.
Dec 18 floods
When the Dec 18, 2021 floods happened, several Kuala Lumpur MPs called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police to investigate possible abuse of power after six retention ponds in the city were approved for development.
Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai lodged the reports on Jan 1, 2022 at the Sentul police station.
Citing the Auditor-General’s Report 2019 Series 2, the six retention ponds in question were Batu, Nanyang, Delima, Taman Wahyu, Batu 4½ and Taman Desa.
Based on the AG’s report, the pond land had been approved for transfer of ownership by PTGWPKL to four companies for residential and mixed development.
The MPs had called on the authorities to investigate parties involved in the transfer of ownership for all ponds and for any elements of power abuse.
They were referring to the Taman Wahyu pond, which is part of the Sungai Jinjang Flood Retention Pond, whereby parts of the 32.3ha pond was transferred to a private developer on Oct 9, 2015 for a mixed development.
On March 16 the same year, the then deputy Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias clarified in Parliament that of six ponds, only the Taman Wahyu and Delima flood retention ponds in Kepong were approved for development.
However, engineers and environmental experts have continued to push for the gazettement of the remaining ponds to prevent land alienation for future development.
Following this, MACC opened an investigation paper on the allegations of power abuse in 2022 and DBKL appointed an independent surveyor to check on both ponds if there was any encroachment.
However, to date no updates have been forthcoming from both agencies.
Look out for Part 2 of the flood retention pond issue in StarMetro tomorrow.
