TAMAN Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents’ efforts in preventing Taman Rimba Kiara from encroachment is challenged as there are proposed roadworks that will take up part of the park.

The residents learnt that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) hall had planned to build an elevated ramp from Jalan Wan Kadir as an access road to the proposed housing development on Lot PT9244, which will encroach part of the 5.38ha of the park.

Save Taman Rimba Kiara Group coordinator Leon Koay said they found out about the plan from the affidavit filed by Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz in January.

“The road will take at least 0.52ha or 10% of the green footprint.

“There will also be a relocation of the existing carpark that sits on Lot PT9244 to part of Taman Rimba Kiara.

“Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor kept saying he will not touch Taman Rimba Kiara but the facts suggest otherwise,” he said during a press conference held at TTDI Community Hall in Jalan Athinahapan, Kuala Lumpur.

Previously, TTDI residents had protested the proposed housing development that included eight blocks of between 42- and 54-storey high-end serviced apartments, while another 29-storey block comprising 350 units of affordable housing would be allocated to TTDI longhouse residents.

The residents then filed a judicial review application with the High Court to quash the conditional planning permission and a development order granted by Kuala Lumpur City Hall earlier last year.

Several parties had then submitted applications to intervene the judicial review, which caused the case hearing to be postponed.

The application for the stay order was denied by the judge in December last year.

Parties involved in the case have about six weeks to exchange affidavits prior to the case management at April 18, when the date of the case hearing is expected to be fixed.

Koay said the layout of TTDI was not meant for such heavy traffic flow.

“The Traffic Impact Report shows that all traffic flowing out of the proposed development will be channelled to Jalan Damansara.

“But a U-turn, which has been incorporated in the plan, will divert traffic back to TTDI and we expect about 2,000 vehicles to channelled back to TTDI,” he said.

Koay also added that TTDI residents found out that Lot 55118 had now been divided into three sections from DBKL planning database that can only be accessed on the site.

“The top section is alienated for commercial purposes, middle section is for residential purposes while the lowest section remained as open space.

TTDI Residents Association (RA) chairman Abdul Hafiz Abu Bakar said DBKL should at least honour the guidelines in the draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 (KLCP2020) despite not being gazetted.

“It is absurd to build an elevated road just to connect to the proposed development,” he said. He added that property developers seemed to be eyeing TTDI land and highlighted several applications to convert TTDI land to commercial purposes.

“For example, there is a proposal to build a two blocks of seven-storey shop lots and offices totalling up to 72 units on that land that now houses Tadika Diyana in Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1, which holds a residential with institutional land title.

“The RA will submit a petition signed by 1,400 TTDI residents to object the project today.

“In fact, DBKL should not even entertain the application as the land is meant solely for residential purposes,” he said.