PUTRAJAYA: DEVELOPERS of the controversial Taman Rimba Kiara condominium project have agreed to reduce the scale of the housing project.
Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said the previous development plan, comprising eight blocks of high-end condominiums, had been scaled down to four blocks involving 3.2ha of land, compared with the original 4.9ha.
The revised plan would only see 1.6ha of open space taken up for development, compared with 3.2ha in the original plan.
Khalid said the revised plan would include a 29-storey block with 350 units meant for Bukit Kiara longhouse residents.
He, however, said the revised plan did not go down well with Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents.
“So, we will continue negotiating (on the matter).
“The developers had agreed to scale down the project. This is the best that I could do.
“I want to resolve this problem this year because some 100 families living at the longhouse had been waiting for (permanent housing units) for more than 36 years,” he said.
Khalid said the project was embroiled in controversy and received brickbats from the residents and the Segambut member of parliament.
He said the matter would be submitted to the cabinet before a decision was made.
Khalid hoped that the dispute would end soon.
It was reported that the proposed development, a joint venture between Memang Perkasa and Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan, comprised eight blocks of luxury serviced apartments, with a height of between 42- and 54-stories, housing 1,800 units.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall had, in 2016, approved the housing development in Taman Rimba Kiara, which was designated as a public open space under the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020. Khalid had said the government needed to resolve the issue as a legal contract had been signed and a development order had also been issued during the previous government’s tenure.