Thursday, April 16, 2009

Fears over Kelana Jaya project

THE Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has been urged to conduct an independent traffic study for the proposed development on the Football Association of Selangor (FAS) field in Kelana Jaya.

The proposed development involves a complex with 92 units of shop offices and a basement car park, and residents in the vicinity are worried that the project would add to the traffic chaos they are now facing daily.

About 10 representatives of the developer and about 30 residents staying around the area attended the first public objection hearing on the project conducted by MBPJ secretary Puasa Mohamad Taib on Monday at the MBPJ complex.

Also present were Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne and Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San.

Tan Sri Dr Lau Ban Tin, representing the developers, said that the land was privately-owned and was never a public recreation area.

Lau said that even the existing access road used by residents had not been surrendered to the authorities and was in effect still privately-owned.

He said the development had already been scaled down from the previous plan consisting of four condominium blocks, one 23-storey office block, one eight-storey service apartments and one six-storey commercial and carpark podium.

“The FAS training centre will be relocated to a three-storey sports complex with full facilities for the Selangor football team in Section U15, Shah Alam,” Lau said.

“The Yayasan FAS and FAS hope to generate recurring income from this project because right now, they don’t even have the funds to maintain existing facilities,” he said.

A Runding Trafik MZK representative also presented a traffic impact assessment (TIA) report during the hearing.

Taman MegahMas residents’ association secretary Dr Chau Foon Yeap said that the traffic congestion continued to be a nightmare for the residents due to cars coming in and out of the tunnel leading to Ara Damansara.

“This project and other projects coming up in the area will add to our problems. We can’t even get out of our houses during peak hours,” he said.

According to former Taman MegahMas residents association chairman S.K. Tan, the problem has been going on for at least eight years and yet the MBPJ did not have a solution for the two tunnels which residents claim are illegal to begin with.

“The MBPJ should resolve this problem before approving the project,” Tan said.

Another resident said that the TIA report projected around 1,000 cars at the main access road during peak hours but the previous traffic study conducted by the MBPJ for the tunnels had recorded more than that.

Pua asked the traffic consultant if the figures took into account the Phase 3 development comprising two blocks of multi-level commercial blocks.

“No, it doesn’t, but we took into consideration the projected growth rate of traffic in the area,” the consultant said.

Pua then asked the developer to conduct a more thorough traffic study, taking into account the proposed commercial buildings.

All-Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Resi­dents Associations Coalition (APAC) chairman Liew Wei Beng said that under the Petaling Jaya Local Draft Plan 2 (RTPJ2), the land was proposed as a commercial area.

“We have not had the RTPJ2 objection hearing sessions and the draft plan has not been gazetted,” Liew said.

According to Lau, the land status had already been converted in 2003.

Liew said the council should appoint an independent traffic consultant to conduct another study.

Another resident asked why 29 units of the shoplots had been sold when their planning approval had expired.

It was previously reported in StarMetro that the planning approval had expired on November 30, 2007.

Pua said that the views from all parties would be taken into account when the One Stop Centre committee makes its decision.

He said although the Selangor Economic Action Council had given the approval for the project in October last year, it was still subject to approval by the MBPJ.

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