This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 17, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Bandaraya Residents’ Association (RA) wants the authorities to freeze all developments in Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. RA president Datuk M Ali said any proposed development must be put on hold until the KL Draft City Plan 2020 (KLDCP) is gazetted.

“I was informed by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) last month that the federal territories ministry had cleared the KLDCP and it would be gazetted in February 2016. Until then, all development must stop,” he said.

Ali’s remarks came in response to a proposed development in Jalan Maarof, opposite the Petronas station. A check by The Malaysian Insider found that DBKL had erected a noticeboard in accordance with Rule 5 on the proposed site. 

Rule 5 forms part of DBKL’s approval process for a development order. The noticeboard states that the developer is planning to build a five-storey office block with a single-level basement car park. The noticeboard also indicates a change of land use from residential to commercial.

Ali said that the RA had repeatedly raised the issue of commercialisation of Jalan Maarof with DBKL.

Former mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Phesal Talib said that single-storey units could be converted to two-storey, and two-storey to three, with three being the limit.

“However, having a five-storey lot is too high,” he said, adding he was also told by DBKL that there would be no linking of buildings, amalgamation or limited commercialisation.

“Why is DBKL facilitating this back-door approach? It is misleading the residents here,” he said. — The Malaysian Insider