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Saturday, October 4, 2014

Whose side are you on, Selangor DAP asks PJ mayor over local plan changes

Selangor DAP chief Tony Pua said PJ mayor Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad must listen to the valid grouses of the people. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 4, 2014.Selangor DAP chief Tony Pua said PJ mayor Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad must listen to the valid grouses of the people. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 4, 2014.
Selangor DAP has criticised the Petaling Jaya mayor for wanting to go ahead with controversial changes to the city’s blueprint although those amendments have been opposed by a majority of its local councillors.
Its chief Tony Pua said PJ mayor Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad must decide whether she wants to be the mayor for the people of Petaling Jaya or another bureaucrat oblivious to the interests of the city residents.
This is since those changes, which were in a draft for PJ’s new local plan, known as the “draft plan”, would permanently damage the city’s sustainability and liveability, Pua said in a statement today.
“All earlier requests were largely ignored, culminating in the special full board meeting petitioned by the councillors two days ago,” said Pua.
“There are very valid and serious reasons for the draft plan to be reviewed.
“Hence it boggles the mind why the mayor is so adamant about pushing through the hastily amended local plan despite the obvious concerns.”
Pua, who is also Petaling Jaya Utara MP, said Alinah must listen to the valid grouses of the people instead of turning a deaf ear to their voices.
It was reported that a majority of PJ local councillors and Pakatan Rakyat federal and state legislators in PJ wanted a review of the changes to the PJ local plan, a blueprint for all present and future developments in the city.
They feared that some of the changes could increase traffic congestion and population density in already crowded neighbourhoods.
One of the changes is the proposed alignment for the Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH) which cuts through the residential areas of Mutiara Damansara and Damansara Perdana.
Another change is a plan to increase plot ratios for certain zones in PJ from four to six, allowing more structures to be built in a given parcel of land and thereby increasing an area’s population density.
The draft plan also wants to turn a piece of federal land in the heart of PJ into a commercial lot without considering the impact on surrounding traffic.
“Is there a reason why the plan must be immediately amended to allow developers to benefit from higher densities without strict guidelines in place?” said Pua.
“Only the mayor herself can explain her position to city's ratepayers.”
On September 30, 13 PJ city councillors voted to repeal the draft plan, saying the changes needed to be reviewed.
However, Alinah yesterday said that the councillors had no power under the law to do so and that their actions violated the Town and County Planning Act 1976.
She argued that the councillors could revoke a local plan but not the draft proposals.
“The argument is laughable as the city council is and should be the originating body to propose any changes to the Local Plan for approval by the state government,” said Pua.
“If the councillors have no powers to amend their own draft, other than the state government itself, who else would have such powers?”
- TMI

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