Signage pointing to landmarks in the park is overgrown with shrubs.
NEWS of a substantial portion of Taman Rekreasi Ayer Panas land being sold to a private company for a mixed development project has left Setapak residents in disbelief.
Folk in Kampung Semarak, Seri Semarak and Kampung Baru Air Panas People’s Housing Projects (PPR) in Kuala Lumpur are shocked to find out that their beloved recreational park now belongs to a private company.
The land, which was part of Lot 29780, had belonged to the government before the sale.
Public toilets at the park are in a state of disrepair.
“What angers me most is that we only found out recently that the land had been sold after a company put up signage indicating it is now private property,’’ said PPR Seri Semarak long-time resident Firdaus Abdullah.
“The government, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur Land and Mines Office (PTGWP) did minimum disclosure of this (land) sale.
“They should have been more transparent since it is a public park,’’ added Firdaus, 35.
The father of three said the park was his family’s only respite as it was difficult raising children in their cramped quarters.
Word got out on park sale.
It was sometime in February when PPR Seri Semarak residents noticed that grass and shrubs around the recreational park had not been trimmed.
“The park was looking shabby, as if DBKL had stopped maintaining the area,’’ Firdaus said.
Their suspicions were confirmed upon realising that DBKL’s park management office had been vacated and furniture removed.
“I thought it was really odd that an entire park was left abandoned with no notification from the authorities,’’ said Siti Sairah Abdullah, 42, another long-time resident of PPR Seri Semarak.
A sign referencing Taman Rekreasi Ayer Panas in Setapak, once a public park, as private property.
“It was only after asking around that news about the park being sold to a private company surfaced, yet there was nothing official from DBKL,’’ added Siti.
The park was not only a popular spot for residents, but it has hosted the launch of various DBKL tree-planting programmes in line with the Kuala Lumpur Low Carbon Society Blueprint 2030 as well as government agency events.
In Feb 23, 2019, the then deputy Federal Territories minister Datuk Shahruddin Md Salleh, who represented then Federal Territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad for a tree-planting event, called on city folk to plant more trees in the park.
Hundreds of people turned up at the event where Kuala Lumpur MPs, DBKL senior directors and the public planted trees around the park.
“I remember that day well because I helped plant a tree,’’ Siti said.
“So imagine my shock and anger to hear that my children’s park has been sold!
“This is not just another piece of land, this is a public park.”
Amir Hamzah, 41, who lived in PPR Sungai Bonus loved the park as it was near his house.
“I go jogging with my children every other evening, and sometimes we play badminton there,’’ said the father of five.
“It has good facilities and it is the perfect jogging spot too.”
Land deal inked in 2018
In 2018, a plot of land measuring 10.1ha, which is part of the park, was sold to facilitate a mixed development project.
A seating area in the Taman Rekreasi Ayer Panas in Setapak looks uninviting.
“We received a request from a third party who wanted to buy the land for a housing project,” said an officer from the PTGWP who preferred to remain unnamed.
The officer added that the government land was part of the park.
According to the officer the land was not gazetted, and based on the National Land Code, non- gazetted land did not require a public announcement of its sale nor an objection hearing.
The land had housed the DBKL park management office and facilities like toilets, surau, children’s playground, football field and futsal, badminton and tennis courts, which were managed by the local authority since 2010.
However in January, DBKL removed all of its assets, leaving behind only immovable structures.
The park, DBKL buildings and other facilities soon fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance.
The site is in a derelict state with broken down buildings and a refuse room torched to the ground, as StarMetro found during a recent visit.
The area is filled with rubbish with broken lamps lying in pieces everywhere.
In a written statement, a DBKL Corporate Commu-nications spokesperson confirmed it had vacated the park after the land was sold to a private company.
An aerial photo of Taman Rekreasi Ayer Panas, Setapak showing colourful padding that remains at the playground but with no children in sight.
“This land had belonged to the PTGWP.
“We were asked to manage and maintain the park from 2010.
“Now that the land has been sold to a third party, our contract is terminated so we removed all of our assets in January this year,’’ added the spokesperson.
Move to cancel deal fails
According to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary Azman Abidin, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land Exco (JKTWPKL) had reviewed and approved the alienation of the land on Feb 15, 2018.
Seven months later, on Oct 8, 2018, the developer paid a premium of RM129,702,796 for the land.
However, in early 2019 the government decided to cancel the land deal since the title had not been changed to reflect transfer of ownership.
The land office cancelled the deal and returned the land premium to the company.
But this move ended up in a lawsuit being filed against the land office.
“I was informed that JKTWPKL and the land office took all the necessary steps to cancel the land deal including returning the premium on Feb 25, 2019.
“However, the company sued for breach of contract and won at the High Court and Court of Appeal. It is no doubt sad,’’ he said.
Azman had earlier told StarMetro that 52 plots of land in Kuala Lumpur – some reserved as green lung and open spaces – had been alienated and leased to developers and businessmen between 2020 and 2022.
One of the buildings in the recreational park in derelict condition.
He said the government was trying to right the wrongs in some of these land deals by cancelling them but it was always a challenge where land premiums had been paid.
Azman added that Anwar had ordered an immediate freeze on the sale or lease of government lands including plots in the process of being alienated.
In May, the government cancelled the proposed alienation of the Bohol flood retention pond in Kuala Lumpur to a private developer.
The JKTWPKL had given conditional approval to the company to alienate part of the land for a housing development project on Oct 20, 2021.
However, the developer’s failure to fulfil key technical requirements, which are part of the conditions required for the alienation to be successful, led to the cancellation.
