David Thien
23rd December 2011 will be the last day for the public, especially land owners in the city of Kota Kinabalu to provide feedback on the Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 drawn up for Kota Kinabalu City Hall by A.I.A.
Consortium Consultancy will guide future city planning to make Kota Kinabalu one of the most lively, vibrant and livable cities in the region.
You can still provide feedback on any matters with regards to the development in the city of Kota Kinabalu which affects you or your property, neighbourhood like laws and regulations, drainage and public transportation to be called to the attention of the authorities.
If political representatives for Inanam, Likas, Api-Api, Luyang, Tanjung Aru and Kepayan constituencies did not send out notifications to the public about the option to air your property grouses, they may make way to the first floor of the Kota Kinabalu City Hall where a room is provided for the public to browse through the Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 in English and register their comments, woes and suggestions on feedback forms provided.
The Town and Country Planning Ordinance (Sabah Cap 141) requires every local authority in Sabah to prepare a Town Planning Scheme or Local Plans for the whole area under its jurisdiction.
However not every local authority in Sabah has a comprehensive Local Plan.
Every local authority is also required to consult and to give any person or public body affected by the plan the opportunity to comment on or object to anything in the Local Plans.
Local plan public consultation is required under section 7 of the Sabah Town and Country Planning Ordinance (Sabah Cap 141).
The public is required to be notified once prior to and also on the preparation of the draft local plan under Section 7(1), Regulation [Section 5] Section 6) of the Sabah Town and Country Planning Ordinance (Sabah Cap 141).
Any member of the public is allowed to submit written objection to any matter in the draft local plan under Section 7 (1), (2), and (3).
Any member of the public who submitted a written objection within the prescribed period for the draft local plan is allowed to be heard at a hearing to be arranged by the local authority under Section 7 (4).
After such hearing, the local authority is to submit the draft local plan with or without amendments to the Central Board together with a schedule of written objections and the resolution manner in which the local authority acted on the written objections under Section 8 (a), (b), and (c).
After that, the Sabah Town and Country Planning and the Central Board are to adopt or to refer the draft local plan back to the local authority for further information or consideration under Section 9.
The Central Board after it has adopted the draft local plan is to submit it to the Sabah State Cabinet which advises the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah for approval under Section 9 (1).
The Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah is to be advised by the Sabah State Cabinet to approve or require the draft local plan to be modified or a new draft local plan is to be resubmitted for approval under Section 9 (2) of the Sabah Town and Country Planning Ordinance (Sabah Cap 141).
After approval, the public is to be notified.
Local plans are generally required to elaborate structure plan policies at local level.
The Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 is a city planning instrument used for development control.
All development in the city of Kota Kinabalu is required to comply with the Kota Kinabalu Local Plan once approved by the Sabah State Cabinet advising Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah.
The Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 comprises three interrelated documents:
1. Proposed land use zones plan;
2. Kota Kinabalu City Hall’s written statement policy on city planning;
3. Memorandum on the qualitative and quantitative standards and controls.
The Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020 has reduced land use zoning for recreation and community space allotted for sport complex, parks, nature reserve, ridge conservation etc which the public can discern currently as examples of development in the future as seen in the building of more condominiums on hilltops and nearby the Kota Kinabalu Wetlands from 36 percent under the 2006 Local Plans prepared by the State Planning Department to 21 percent. (Reduction of 15 percent).
Under the Draft Kota Kinabalu Local Plan 2020, a new four percent zone is allotted as rural or area requiring further investigation etc that was not in the 2006 Local Plans prepared by the State Planning Department.
There is no change for space allotted for infrastructure zoning comprising airport, roads, railways, utilities etc which remains at 12 percent.
There is a three percent increase in living space zoning for housing from 32 percent to 35 percent.
As for work space zoning comprising offices, shops, factories, warehouses, there is an increase of eight percent from 20 percent to 28 percent as can be currently seen with the building of more shops as an example of things to come.
For the public, the better you know your city the better the chances of you making a positive contribution to its planning, development and management.
The public must learn to depend on themselves more to be able to affect change and have the self-worth dignity to remind civil servants and public servants like politicians that in a democracy, the people are the clientele that pay the salaries of civil servants and public servants to serve the public as their customers. Without their public office mandate, they could not enjoy other ‘status and decision-making benefits’.
The professionals have to show bold leadership by being in the forefront of change and transformation and eschew graft leading to substandard practices and products. The Corruption Perception Index in which Malaysia’s score suffered a slight dip from 4.4 in 2010 to 4.3 in 2011.
There is an urgent need to change the mindset of the public and public servants on how such urban and country planning and implementation matters have been dealt with by the authorities in the past half a century, and how a preferably more democratic approach that can largely fulfill the public’s growing expectations of greater professionalism without leakages and blatant abuse in accordance with international best practices and developments be promoted and encouraged.
A.I.A. Consortium Consultancy’s principal consultant Douglas Barnes when asked by Komunitikini, opined that certain West Malaysian legislation laws and guideline regulations are better than what is available in Sabah pertaining to urban planning and building development and he feels that best practices should be emulated and our colonial era legacy ordinances updated to keep up with the times.
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Dr Keith Tan Kay Hin
