Sunday, June 04, 2006

DBKL - Another Greedy Bungler.

In The Star today: Residents in Bukit Mas in Taman Melawati here want a residential development project on a hillslope to stop. “We don't want another tragedy to happen,” Bukit Mas Residents Ad Hoc Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Rosli Aziz said. “After numerous landslides in the surrounding areas, we are shocked to find that the go-ahead has been given to a developer to build a block of seven-storey apartments and a block of six-storey town villas, totalling 74 units, on the slope.....

.....“The original development order was granted in the early 1990s but was put on hold after the Highland Towers tragedy. “We found out in March that the developer had been given the green light to proceed, despite knowing the fragile condition of the land in the area,” he said. The residents said they wrote of their concern to DBKL and the Federal Territories Ministry. They received a reply from the FT Minister that “the project has already been approved, and we will take the necessary measures to ensure nothing untoward happens.”

Nearby, a Taman Melawati Damai resident said a hill was being cleared to make way for housing development. “The whole hill is bald and there are houses and schools nearby. We must act before a disaster happens,” he said.

(In the NST). Situated near the Kampung Pasir landslide in the Hulu Klang area, Bukit Mas in Taman Melawati has had its share of minor landslides, and there are cracks in the 232 housing units. Residents have forked out thousands to repair damage caused by minor landslides during a heavy downpour. "The foundations of some of the bungalows need shoring up. We can’t imagine the effects of the clearing of trees, earthworks and piling on this already fragile environment."

The residents at their own expense hired a consultant and their worst fears have been confirmed - they are in mortal danger living near a time-bomb waiting to explode.

People, there is a method to this madness of raping and balding hills. The bottom line is MONEY. The Mayor, his senior officials or both are probably getting huge sums of cold cash as bribes to approve this kind of project. The developer knows that this is the only way to get his hands on the millions in profit he will make by selling his hillside 'luxury villas' to filthy rich idiots who don't know what else to do to flaunt their wealth. Will the damned DBKL care if people lose their lives? No! They are only interested in enriching themselves before they retire or are transferred to a less 'lucrative' post.

Remember some time ago when UMNO KL made a hue and cry for the Federal Territory Minister to be given a big say in projects currently under the purview of DBKL? Why? Because there is simply a helluva lot of money to be made through receiving bribes and the minister as well as the concerned UMNO people wanted a bit of the action. 'More crooks the merrier', perhaps!

I'm sick and tired of listening to the same sad stories after some tragedy and the round of cover ups afterwards; the finger pointing, the explanations, the rebukes and the pledges to investigate and report. What about really doing something to prevent tragedies in the first place? The government or whoever wishes to take some responsibility on behalf of it should use the residential development project on a hillslope at Bukit Mas in Taman Melawati as a point of reference to ruthlessly wage war against greedy officials and developers. Or is that asking too much?

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