‘KL plan must be people-oriented for a liveable city’

Ali (front row, third from left) looking at the presentation slides with Booi Charn (on his right) together with Charles (back row, right) while other members of SKL and KLRA SD look on.

ADVOCATES for sustainable cities are urging Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to gazette a people-oriented draft Kuala Lumpur Local Plan (KLLP) 2040 to turn Kuala Lumpur into a more liveable city.

“We want a plan where people take pride in the city, not one that puts people’s interests at risk.

“Mismanagement in town planning would affect future generations,” said Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur (SKL) chairman Datuk M. Ali.

In a four-hour presentation during a public hearing session for KLLP2040 at Menara DBKL 1, the group urged the local authority to preserve retention ponds, adhere strictly to gazetted land use and improve open spaces in the draft plan.

“For example, retention ponds should be preserved in their originality to ensure their functions.

“A comprehensive list and locations of all retention ponds under the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) and DBKL should be included in the KLLP2040 as requested,” he told a panel comprising various individuals.

The group also urged the panel to put in recommendations to protect more public and open spaces and stop the widespread conversion of de facto public land.

“There are questionable calculations of open spaces where the draft plan stated that total open space in Kuala Lumpur was 4,798.94ha.

“However, this includes the required green spaces in commercial and residential buildings which are not accessible to the public, hence creating an untrue representation of the city’s actual measurements of open spaces.

“It constitutes half (2,324 ha) of additional open space which cannot be verified as it is based on a broad estimated percentage contribution of non-open space land,” said SKL committee member Charles Tan.

The group also urged the removal of open space 2 (OS2) land use category while private open space (OS3) should not be considered as open space.

“OS2 can be used for transportation projects without first changing the land use.

“Hence, this category would inflate and distort the actual open space land area in the city.

“As for OS3 zoned land, it is permissible with conditions to build golf facilities, tourist accommodation as well as serviced apartments under Land Use and Building Class 2024.

“It also has no requirement to be accessible to the general public.

“This is against the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 which states that open space is a public place and should not be restricted as in the case of a private golf course,” he said.

Kuala Lumpur Residents Action for Sustainable Development Association (KLRA+SD) chairman Tan Booi Charn said hillslope development restriction on Class 4 slopes should be included in the draft KLLP2040.

“Previously, this restriction was included in the KLLP2020 but was not stated in the draft KLLP2040 plan.

“We are proposing to restrict development on the hillslope at 150m above sea level instead of the previous 300m,” she said.

Booi Charn added that there was also a need for an implementation and evaluation task force to be formed and to meet periodically.

“This is to ensure that the draft plan achieves the targeted sustainability agenda in the city,” she said.