“We are appalled why the chief secretary ordered the land around the pond to be sold at a lower price to build posh condominiums.
“If the land is sold and reclaimed at a low price to build schools or affordable housing projects, we do not have any objections. It is not proper to have more condominiums here,” he told reporters during a visit at the condominium project at Taman Wahyu here.
Lim said the project would increase the traffic density and cause jams in Taman Wahyu. “It is not right in the first place to sell it for commercial purposes without consultation with local residents.”
The market price for land in Taman Wahyu is about RM250 per square foot but the Land Office sold it at RM68psf. Lim said the land around the pond was sold to a developer which was later transferred to another company.
Kepong Community Service Centre leader Yee Poh Ping urged the federal government, which is in charge of the federal territory, to stop the development project.
“This area used to be beautiful but the development has damaged the landscape,” he said.
Yee said the pond was meant for flood mitigation. He said that the Land Office, in answer to his queries, said that the land was transferred to the developer under the National Land Code without proper explanation. However, the construction would not affect flood mitigation.
He said City Hall had promised in the past to use the pond area for recreational purposes.