CHDRA urges authorities to halt building of luxury condos

KUALA LUMPUR: The Country Heights Damansara Residents Association (CHDRA) members have called on the relevant authorities to halt the proposed development plan to build two blocks of luxury condominiums.
The 41 storey condominium development with 700 units was allegedly approved by City Hall (DBKL) without their knowledge.
Claiming the decision to be "arbitrary, illegal and irrational", they said that it contradicted with the initially approved Master Layout Plan which stipulated the land be used for clubhouse and business purposes only.
Speaking on behalf of the association, Segambut Member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng said, the residents who were living in the area were not consulted.
"There was no public forum to consult the residents or to address their concerns. Letters of objection sent within the period of the last two years were left unanswered and only after a face to face meeting two weeks ago, did they discover that the plan had been given the go-ahead," he added when speaking in a press conference.
He said that the residents' enquiry about why they were left in the dark was met with the response that the authorities were acting within their jurisdiction.
The land was originally meant to be developed into a club house with 3 storey commercial strip named "SARA Waterfall Commercial Centre" with the plot ratio of 1:1.
The alleged approved altering of plans would see the building of 700 luxury condominiums and an increase in plot ratio to 1:6, turning Country Heights into a high density area.
Lim added that the residents noticed a couple of weeks ago that the site work for the developmental project had begun although no formal notices were issued.
"If this plan is allowed to go through, it would worsen to a horrifying magnitude the existing traffic congestion to the entrance of Country Heights Damansara and Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), affecting other areas as well," he warned.
Lim said that he will be lodging an official complaint at the Ministry of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing (FT) to ask them to investigate the matter.
"I will give them a month to respond. If necessary, I will bring this up to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission" he said.
When contacted by theSun, KL mayor Datuk Ahmad Phesal said he will be getting additional details from Town Planning Department Director Sahrom Ujang regarding the matter.
The developer of SARA Waterfall Commercial Centre could not be reached for comment.