PJ Residents Unhappy with MBPJ Approval of PJ Sentral

MBPJ have approved the Development Application by Gapurna for PJ
Sentral. There are some conditions attached but not enforceable in the
way the Approval has been written. Our concerns remain with the
inadequacy of the conditions, the considerable flaws in the Application/Approval,
and the weakness of the conditions.

We will continue with our actions to ensure transparency and that the rights and wishes of the PJ community are not overlooked or abused...including legal action if necessary.

The STAR Reports on Letter of Protest

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/6/29/central/6564936&sec=central

APAC Letter to MBPJ, June 28th 2010

APAC


YB Datuk Mohd. Roslan Sakiman ,
Datuk Bandar MBPJ

June 27 , 2010 .

YB Datuk Mohd. Roslan Sakiman ,

Re : Keputusan Jawatankuasa Pusat Setempat (OSC )
Seksyen 52 . Lot 8 & Lot 12 . PKNS & PUNCAK WANGI S/B .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assalamualaikum .

We have been advised that the OSC has approved the Application “ KEBENARAN MERANCANG “ for lots 8 & 12 in Section 52 submitted by Asnatech Consult
on behalf of Puncak Wangi Sdn. Bhd , and PKNS .

We are totally shocked and disappointed with the decision especially as the OSC
would seem to have IGNORED the issues raised in our letter of June 23rd stating the need for a BALANCED, RESPONSIBLE and SUSTAINABLE development .
With the greatest of respect, 6000-9000 cars moving in and thru the vicinity every day, probably causing massive traffic congestion, as well as air & noise pollution, 6-lanes highways breaking the fabric of the community and displacing many homes, and rate payers money being used for the RM 92 million "regional access” cannot be anyone’s idea of fairness, progress nor "development".

This is not the development PJ residents want nor deserve .

MBPJ Councilors MUST rise to the occasion in their last meeting of their term and seize the the opportunity to act within their conscience and deep convictions for a lasting positive effect on the future of a LIVEABLE PJ CITY. Make a difference for a better PJ MBPJ must listen to the voices of the rate payers and ACT to protect our interests and “reject“ this OSC decision and / or , postpone the endorsement of this approval to a later Full Board meeting.

APAC sincerely hopes for a positive outcome to our appeal and must serve notice that we will go to all lengths, including legal action, to preserve and protect the interests and well being of the PJ rate payers .


Thank you .

Yours sincerely ,

-signed-

Johan Tung Abdullah cc : Ahli-ahli Majlis MBPJ

GABUNGAN PERSATUAN-PERSATUAN PENDUDUK PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR (ALL PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION COALITION -APAC) Correspondence Address: No. 8 , Lorong Putri 5 / 9 B , 46000 Petaling Jaya , Selangor DE.

PJ Residents Reject PJ Sentral

http://komuniti.malaysiakini.com/news/penduduk-pj-serah-memorandum-bantahan-seksyen-52

WHOSE INTEREST ARE BEING REPRESENTED ?

8 Tower blocks, 37 Floors High
Between PJ Hilton and PJ New Town
It will transform PJ .... in a way the residents DO NOT WANT

MBPJ "One Stop Centre" have APPROVED this development on Thursday 24th June despite STRONG OBJECTIONS from the 600,000 residents of PJ.

WHY ?

PJ Sentral Development Approved

The Residents Associations and APAC have not have any formal confirmation but we have been led to believe that the OSC having approved the PJ Sentral Development Application that the next step would be a 'confirmation' of that Approval in a Council meeting next Tuesday. At that time the Developer may proceed with their plans

We would urge PJ residents and communities to ensure that their opinions are voiced and heard. Use this BLOG, our Facebook or call your political representatives. They need to know what you feel and what you want.

MBPJ Accepts PJ Sentral Planning Application

We understand but are waiting for verification, that the "PJ Sentral" Planning Application has been accepted by the MBPJ One-Stop-Centre (OSC), subject to certain changes and conditions...but substantially accepted.

Make your opinion and concerns heard !

The SUN, page 9, JUNE 23rd

MBPJ To Consider the Development Application

Please vote on our poll
The MBPJ need to know what you think and that you are interested to see how they manage this Development Application.

Write to the newspapers

Call your local MPs or other political representatives

Leave comments on this BLOG or on our Facebook Group
Dont delay, these decisions, affecting you all are being made NOW !

Tell your friends and neighbours, get them involved

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=100120763372437

The STAR article

Thursday May 27, 2010
Stakeholders set to oppose new development in Section 52

THE PKNS headquarters at Section 52 Petaling Jaya, has already been earmarked for development.

APAC interview on BERNAMA

Why The PJ Community Is so Concerned

TRAFFIC - this development will cause 9,000 to 11,000 vehicle movements in and out of the development every day...the traffic jam will extend in all directions

PARKING - there is a shortfall of about 6,000 car spaces in the development...where will these cars fit on already congested streets

ROADWORKS - the proposed road expansion, flyovers and extensions will destroy residential neighbourhoods

COSTS - the Developer is not taking responsibility for much of the resulting infrastructure costs nor for much of the ongoing maintenance of infrastructure and access ways...a bill that could run into hundreds of millions of ringgit for the local ratepayer.

BENEFIT - this is a profit motivated development, at the cost of the local ratepayers who would not benefit and would end up being displaced to make way for this development and the necessary infrastructure to support it.

POLLUTION - noise, fumes, traffic...tearing apart of the social fabric of an established community

APAC Chairman's "Letter to the Editor" - to all Malaysian Media

PJ Residents Want Community - Centric Development For PJ Section 52.
June 21 , 2010


Dear Sir / Madam ,

I am writing on behalf of the Coalition of Residents Associations of Petaling Jaya ( APAC ) to voice our concerns and objections to the proposed “PJ Sentral” development in Section 52 of Petaling Jaya.

On its own this is a massive development of 8 tower blocks of up to 27 floors each, and that’s just Phase 1 of the proposed re-development of Section 52. Our concerns and objections are based on our expert analysis of the impact this development alone would have on the local community....essentially the massive increase in traffic congestion, noise pollution, car and truck fumes as well as the imposition of massive road widening, flyovers and road extensions through and adjacent to established residential communities in Petaling Jaya. The developer’s own traffic experts admit that that the car parking attached to this development would be inadequate to cope with the total demand the Development generates. Based upon the developers own numbers our experts calculate the shortfall in car parking to be about 6,000 vehicles, which would then need to find parking on already congested streets in and around the PJ New Town area and adjacent neighbourhoods. You can just imagine the chaotic consequences

The residents of PJ have for some time been looking forward to modernisation of the PJ New Town and Old Town areas, encompassing Section 52. We anticipated a community-centred development vision which would enhance the quality of life of the Petaling Jaya stakeholders. Instead we got a multi-billion dollar monster which would displace rather than serve the local community, but which would we estimate, make hundreds of millions of ringgit of profit for the developers and their stakeholders.
Their Application shows that the PJ Rate Payers may have to bear the burden of more than RM92 million infrastructure works to justify their Application/proposal .

Despite recent comments in the Media, neither the PJ Datuk Bandar , Datuk Mohd Roslan Sakiman, the MBPJ, nor the Developer had engaged with or discussed these plans with the local community and Residents Associations or their representatives (until a Hearing last week under Local Agenda 21).
For the record we would confirm that the Coalition of Residents are against this Development Proposal
( as is ) and welcome the opportunity to engage with and work out a solution which would serve the interests of the Community, but the Developer to date , has refused to agree to make any changes to their Proposal Application.

We trust that now that the MBPJ and the PJ Datuk Bandar are aware, through your good office, of our concerns and objections to this Development Proposal and that they would make every effort to ensure that the Community’s needs and wishes are taken fully into account. We would also hope that MBPJ would reconsider carefully the acceptability of this Application given its significant flaws and shortcomings as pointed out by our experts in relation to the proposal concept and the Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA).

We hope that the Developer concerned would show sincerity and in the spirit of compromise and respect , would withdraw their current Development Proposal, and re-submit in due course and with the Residents full support AFTER they have made the changes necessary to reflect our concerns and objections.
From a procedural point of view, unless the Developer withdraws their Application, they cannot accommodate our inputs and concerns, and thus it is a pre-requisite to any meaningful discussions between the relevant Petaling Jaya community stakeholders and the Developer.

Yours sincerely,

Johan Tung ABdullah
President of All Petaling Jaya Residents Associations Coalition (“APAC”)

PJ residents Press Statement against PJ Sentral

PETALING JAYA RESIDENTS

REJECT CATASTROPHIC DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

FOR PJ, SECTION 52

Petaling Jaya, 15 June 2010 - at a closed Hearing under Local Agenda 21 held at Ibu Pejabat, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya today, the Petaling Jaya Residents Associations, represented by Mr Liew Wei Beng, the President of All PJ resident Associations Coalition (“APAC”) have voiced their objections to the proposed development in the area of Section 52.

“This Development, if it is allowed to proceed, would have a catastrophic effect on the quality of life and safety of the Petaling Jaya community and residents” stated Mr. Liew.

“based upon our expert analysis it would contribute to road accidents, injuries and fatalities, it would increase demand for roadside parking by up to 6,000 vehicles, that’s equivalent to about 40km of roadside parking. The Development would also result in 6-lane highways and flyovers being forced onto currently peaceful residential neighbourhoods in the vicinity of Jalan Templer and Jalan Pencala, in order to accommodate the increased traffic.”

Also present at the hearing were several representatives from the individual Petaling Jaya Residents Associations Section 5, Maxwell and Fraser Towers, their collective legal advisers Mr Tommy Thomas, Dato' V. Sivaparanjothi, and Mr. M. Umar, and their technical adviser Mr. Ahmad Jefri Clyde.

The Petaling Jaya legal advisers, during the hearing, raised several fundamental legal issues with the proposal including the lack of a relevant infrastructure Masterplan, the lack of due process, the lack of detail and specification in the Proposal making it impossible to define what precisely is included or excluded in the Development. The Proposal as presented makes no provision for the cost of infrastructure upgrading and maintenance, such as sewage and waste, pathways, and public transport access, indicating that substantial related and consequential costs would be forced onto the local ratepayers.

Mr. Liew said, “We, as the residents and local ratepayers, are deeply concerned that much of the cost of accommodating such a Development, in terms of infrastructure upgrades and ongoing maintenance, would in fact be carried by us, and as we do not see a benefit to us from the Development we strenuously object. We are deeply suspicious of a Development Proposal, its developer and an approval process which would allow such abuse of the local community. We require a process which allows for greater engagement with the community such that the local stakeholders’ needs are fully understood, and so that the MBPJ administration would better understands how to fulfil their role IN OUR INTERESTS.”

The Petaling Jaya Residents’ technical adviser, Mr Ahmad Jefri Clyde, an authoritative Town Planner with 20 years experience on Malaysian town planning projects, pointed out during the hearing that the Development Proposal was deeply flawed or highly questionable on several grounds...

· It did not take into account the impact of subsequent phases of development in and around Section 52

· It did not demonstrate how this Development would integrate into the broader urban fabric such “new town” or the “state” area.

· Under present modal split conditions, it underestimates the demand for vehicular car parks.

· The plans show a 7-storey, basement car park that is equivalent to 30-acres car park to accommodate approximately 6,500 cars, but describes the basement as 4 ½ storey.

· The documents do not benchmark the proposal and its massive car park proposal against any other equivalent projects as a means of demonstrating its feasibility.

· It does not include any assessment of traffic flow within the 7-storeys of basement.

· It makes questionable assumptions on local road capacities and sizes, for example it assumes that Jalan Barat functions as a 6-lane highway, when in fact local residents would know that most of the time it is lucky to function as a 2-lane carriageway

· It proposes road works and local amendments that potentially are traffic and safety hazards, for example an assumption that to access the Development site, traffic would be able to successfully complete a U-Turn on Jalan Sultan, then ‘weave’ across 3 lanes of busy road. Local residents would well appreciate the safety hazard and perpetual disruption such traffic flow would cause.

· It includes roadwork expansion and development which would inevitably result in noise pollution and massive intrusion into local homes and residences.

· It does not detail how the financial provisions for upgrading relevant infrastructure costs and ongoing maintenance are to be made leaving the possibility they could effectively be passed to taxpayers.

Mr Clyde suggested that on technical grounds this Development Proposal falls short of the minimum requirements to assess acceptability for a project of this scale.

Mr Thomas and Dato’ V. Sivaparanjothi stated that the Development Proposal and the approval process were also legally unacceptable.

Mr. Liew on behalf of Petaling Jaya’s 600,000 residents reiterated that, “...based on safety and social considerations this Development Proposal fails totally to meet the needs and wishes of the local community stakeholders and ratepayers and as such is unacceptable.”

He went on to comment, “The Petaling Jaya residents categorically reject this Development Proposal because of the catastrophic impact it would have on safety and quality of life for the local community, and given these negatives, we do not see a single benefit coming back to the local community. The only beneficiaries would be the developers and wealthy vested interests, and as such it is unacceptable to us.”

The PJ infrastructure cannot cope with it

MASSIVE DISRUPTION TO PJ

Massive building work
Massive car park stretching underneath the entire land area, and 7 floors deep.
Massive disruption and chaos to local residential areas

Town Planning Experts estimate that the development car park would be short of about 6,000 car bays, meaning that 6,000 cars from visitors to this development would be parking on the surrounding streets and neighbourhoods...an already heavily congested area.

Jalan Pencala to be converted to a 6-lane highway.

Additional flyovers to be erected next to residential areas

Existing roads to be annexed for access to the site.

Dangerous U-turns to be placed in the middle of 3-lane sections

The Developers Proposal

8 Massive tower blocks of up to 27 floors each, in Section 52, opposite PJ Hilton and old Nestle offices