High Court judge Justice Kamaludin Md Said dismissed the residents’ bid to temporarily halt the housing projects in their neighbourhood on grounds that a stay in development would greatly affect developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd and the park’s land owner Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan, which had made investments in the project.
The court also awarded a total cost of RM40,000 to the developer, land owner and DBKL.
Justice Kamaludin fixed the next case management on Jan 16.
The residents’ lawyer Balan Nair asked the court to stay the execution of the decision today, but Kamaludin said they could file an appeal to the Court of Appeal and submit a motion to stop the execution.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, the residents’ spokesman Leon Koay said they had taken the action to stop development pending the disposal of their case as they wanted to retain the park.
“We were denied our application to have the park remain at status quo while a case is ongoing, and were hit by exorbitant costs.
“Is this the message the administration wants to send to people who take on civic action?” he asked.
In August, TTDI residents took DBKL and the mayor to court to challenge the council’s decision to develop housing projects at Taman Rimba Kiara.
They sought a court order to revoke the conditional planning permission and a developer’s order for the developer, Memang Perkasa.
They also wanted the court to suspend the development projects pending disposal of their case.
The proposed developments are a 29-storey apartment and eight blocks of service apartments with 42 to 54 storeys.
In their court documents, the residents said Taman Rimba Kiara had been their green lung and a place for them to carry out recreational activities since the 1980s.
They also said the park was unique and a place for bird enthusiasts to observe various birds species.
The locals came to know about the proposed housing projects in June 2016, when a notice was put up near the park.
They objected to the developments, claiming they would destroy the park’s greenery and increase the population density in TTDI.
DBKL conducted a hearing on Aug 29, 2016 to hear the residents’ objections.
During the hearing, the residents were told that the council would build another highway bridge between six and eight lanes wide to ease traffic in the area.
However, the residents said they would be adversely affected by the mass development as their houses were situated between 150 and 350 metres from the park and project site.
“We will also suffer pollution and have to endure traffic congestion,” they said in their judicial review application.
The residents also claimed the decision by DBKL and the mayor was invalid as they had not been consulted on the housing plan and highway.
“The council and mayor violated Section 22(4) of the Federal Territories (Planning) Act when they failed to consider the local draft plan in approving the project,” they said.