Kuala Lumpur Mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said the population of Kuala Lumpur would increase to about 3 million in the year 2020, and that traffic jams were inevitable.
“We must remember that KL’s population will be 2 to 3 million people after 2020, and this is nowhere near Jakarta, Bangkok, Tokyo or Singapore,” he said.
“When the MRT is ready, everybody has to use public transport like the people in the UK and Japan. There you have high-rise buildings everywhere.
He was responding to fears of traffic congestion from those who opposed the proposed high-rise development near Rimba Kiara Park in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) here.
The project, involving a 29-storey block of affordable housing (350 units), and eight blocks of serviced apartments ranging from 42 to 54 storeys (1,766 units), is opposed by residents in the area who fear for the future of the popular recreational park and dread the ensuing traffic congestion.
A resident from TTDI, Saleh Mohammed, said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) was going against the KL Structure Plan 2020 to preserve Bukit Kiara and TTDI in efforts to reduce carbon emission.
“It is stated in the KL Structure Plan 2020 that the existing open spaces of Bukit Kiara, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail and the forested hills of Kampong Sungai Penchala shall be preserved together with the West Valley Park. A botanical garden shall be developed to the north of the West Valley Park.
“Eliminating parks to build high-rise serviced apartments goes against the grain of reducing carbon emission,” he wrote to FMT.
Mohd Amin stressed that the park would not be affected, saying that DBKL would not have approved the project if it was not in a proper lot or plot of land.
“It is not in the gazetted area, I am 100 per cent sure. It is at the longhouse site and within the vicinity,” he told FMT.