Development Project in Puchong Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve - Continue or Not??

It is already more than a month and yet the local council (Subang Jaya Municipal Council) and the local state assemblyman who is also a MPSJ councilor failed to reply with any outcome on a hillslope project which is to be developed along the fringes of the Ayer Hitam forest reserve.

Residents residing around the area from Sri Penaga Apartment, D’Palma Apartment, Saraka Apartment, Sri Cempaka Apartment, Desa Tanjung Apartment and D’Kiara Apartment have already submitted their disagreement to the Department of Planning and Development, Subang Jaya Municipal Council on 28th March 2006 in an objection hearing between them, MPSJ and the developer involved. The hearing was chaired by Kinrara Assemblyman Kow Cheong Wei.

State investment arm, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad, together with another two developers, Citrasama Sdn. Bhd. and Benua Ehsan Sdn. Bhd. applied to develop the same site. The three developers had applied for a planning permission (Kebenaran Merancang) to develop the area.

According to the Objection Letter by residents from the six apartments mentioned above, they had protested the development project based on the following reason:

1. that Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve is the last piece of green lung available in Puchong and it shall be well-protected by the authority without being turned into any housing projects. Residents have been told by their developer, SP Setia Berhad Group, that this piece of land is another forest reserve which shall not be developed.
2. that the retention pond is also located too close to the hillslope and the pond must be combined with a bigger one for easier supervision in future.
3. that landslide, land erosion, air and water pollution, flash floods as well as other natural disasters can easily take place once the hillslope is developed. After all, over development is another major cause of flash floods and storms took place in Klang Valley recently.
4. that the development will definitely worsen the already congested traffic in Persiaran Wawasan, Persiaran Indera, Persiaran Bukit, Jalan Wawasan 4/12 and the junction going out to LDP.
5. that the Primary School Reserve for Pusat Bandar Puchong is located to close to the main entrance of the project.
6. that the gradient of the hillslope is more that 35 degree which is beyond the maximum allowable gradient for any development projects.

The Sun dated 31st March 2006 has quoted Kinrara Assemblyman Dr Kow Cheong Wei that:

‘“The matter will first be discussed at the council planning department committee meeting and if it fails to make a decision, then the matter wil be referred to a full board meeting,” he said.

‘“If this entity does not make a decision, then it will be referred to the Selangor Economic Action Council, and subsequently the state executive council,’ he said’

It is a surprise that technical details on the construction and the content of the EIA and traffic report for the project were provided during the objection hearing.

For such a project It is most disappointing that to date, the local council and the state assemblyman had yet to announce any decision or any outcome from various meeting as well as of whether the meeting had been held or not. Local council shall not practice secrecy in their running and any progress on this matter shall be made known to the public.