The State Planning Committee (SPC) has finally admitted to going along with the decision of MPSJ to withdraw the revocation of TM’s commercial plans for USJ 6 utility land.
The SPC officer gave the information at the case’s first mention with the Selangor Appeal Board after being pressured by the residents’ lawyer Gobind Singh Deo on the status of endorsement.
According to Hannah Yeoh, SPC was passing the buck to the appeal board, claiming it would be up to the board to decide the fate of the 0.35ha TM utility land.
“At last they revealed that the development order stays, which means they have endorsed the MPSJ’s contentious minutes (at the meeting) on April 27 to cancel the revocation,” the Subang Jaya assemblyperson said.
The Selangor Appeal Board scheduled the next hearing on 20 and 21 October, the decision would then lay precedence for all cases involving TM utility land in the country.
The sentiment was equally shared by the community as Serdang parliamentarian Teo Nie Ching, Friends of Kota Damansara (FoKD) co-chairman Jeffrey Phang, Subang Jaya RA chairman AC Gill, Bandar Utama 11 RA chairperson B.L Tan and Sunway RA were all present with the residents at the hearing.
Yeoh said if the ruling is in favour of TM, the next land affected will be the utility lot alienated at Serdang Raya.
“A developer has submitted plans to commercialise the 5.34 acre land, but MPSJ put it on hold to see the decision of the USJ 6 appeal;.”
Yeoh also said she is disappointed with the way SPC and MPSJ had conducted the matter.
“The revocation was done in October 2009 in MPSJ, but SPC has never endorsed it.
“It wasn’t until six months later that MPSJ hurriedly organised another meeting to cancel the revocation, which SPC responsively endorsed.”
Gobind meanwhile requested the documents to be furnished to him before he decides the next course of action.
“I asked for the MPSJ and SPC meeting minutes to get a picture of how they have tabled the decision,” he said.
TM Facilities and developer Bujang Budiman proposed to jointly develop the utility reserve at USJ 6 into a nine-storey commercial block, which the residents have been protesting due to the traffic impact it would bring.
In addition, it raises the question of whether utility land, which was earmarked and sold cheaply to utility companies, could be legally converted after the land price hikes.
C. Khor
CJMY
