Taman Rimba Kiara issue to be discussed in FT Ministerial Council

PETALING JAYA, May 18 (Bernama) -- The controversial Taman Rimba Kiara (TRK) development project in Taman Tun Dr Ismail will be discussed at the next Federal Territory Ministerial Council meeting, Segambut Member of Parliament Hannah Yeoh said today.

Yeoh said the meeting might be held before Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad brings the issue to the Cabinet for a decision.

“The most immediate one is that Majlis Menteri Wilayah for all Kuala Lumpur MPs to meet and Fahmi Fadzil (Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai) will bring this (development project) up in the meeting.

“This council meeting might take place before the Cabinet meeting,” she told reporters after holding a  townhall “Public Briefing on Taman Rimba Kiara” at the TTDI Community Hall here today.

Recently, Khalid said that the Cabinet would decide whether to compensate the developer and cancel the project or continue on a smaller scale.

Khalid had said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would have to pay about RM150 million to the developer if the project is cancelled, and that would be a waste of public funds.

Residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail have vehemently opposed the project, even its scaled-down version. 

It was reported that Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YMP), the registered owner of the land earmarked for development in the TRK area, has clarified that the scaled-down version of the project will not encroach into the boundaries of the public park.

Yeoh, who is also the Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, however, said that the scaled-down project would still encroach into the green lung area.

“In my counterplan, I have suggested two solutions, which is to revoke and pay compensation or continue the project but only within the footprint of Taman Bukit Kiara longhouse residents. If we (government) said that we can't afford to pay compensation, we want a win-win (solution),” she added. 

Yeoh also calls upon the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to seriously look into the report findings by Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) which claimed that the previous Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had a conflict of interest in the project.

-- BERNAMA