THE St Ignatius Church is losing its carpark following the revocation of a 2012 approval by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) for the church to temporarily use the reserve land.
In a letter to the church dated Nov 18, DID stated that the conditional approval it granted via its letter on June 5 in 2012 has been revoked.
The latest letter further stated that DID contractors would enter the site of the carpark next month to commence work for the ongoing Kayu Ara River Flood Mitigation Project behind the church in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
St Ignatius’ lawyer Datuk Joy Appukuttan expressed frustration over the short notice and lack of prior consultation regarding the proposed river widening project, which was first communicated to the church via a notice dated Oct 29.
In earlier reports, DID claimed there were no records of any approval, but later affirmed the 2012 letter stating DID had no objection to the church building a carpark on the reserve land.
Joy said that without the carpark, which has about 120 bays, traffic would be chaotic.
“Traffic is already congested on Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP).”
He said that despite a meeting with DID and the Petaling Land Office to discuss the issue on Nov 19, authorities visited the church grounds unannounced this morning (Nov 20).
“JPS agreed to provide us with the plans immediately so that we can all work out a solution, but this morning, a DID officer appeared at the church grounds with eight others,” he said.
Joy said the original carpark land in front of the church was acquired for the construction of LDP, prompting the church to approach DID for alternative space in 2012.
“At that time there was someone parking his tanker lorries there and even had his workers staying on part of the land.
"After getting DID’s approval, the church did a lot of work and spent a lot of money to level the land for use as a carpark," he added.
Joy urged the authorities to reconsider and engage with the church to find a solution.
“While negotiations are ongoing, we hope for an amicable resolution that takes into account the needs of the church and the wider community,” he said.
In an earlier report, a DID deputy director said there were concerns about potential riverbank erosion due to the construction of a wall (along the church carpark) very close to Sungai Kayu Ara.
The officer added that the government, through DID, required the parking area for the purpose of widening and upgrading the river to reduce the risk of flooding in upstream areas and around the project site.
