Puteri Hills - Concerns On The Irregularities Of Planning Approval Procedures

1. I, the undersigned went to Lembaga Rayuan Negeri this afternoon to file in our appeal in regard to the Puteri Hills project.
   
   
2. Unfortunately our appeal was not accepted without the Form B. MPSJ Perancangan should send this Form B to our residents or their representative(s) (ie. The “Residents Association”), before captioned project is approved.
   
   
3. Incidentally, I was told by En. Saifuddin from Lembaga Rayuan Negeri that MPSJ Perancangan apparently did not abide by the correct procedure and hence they denied us the right to appeal on this project. He said the due process is as follows:
   • MPSJ Perancangan has to serve a “Notis Lot Banjiran” to all protesters (residents) based on Local Agenda and Good Governance Principle along with Form B in provision for the protest of the project. 
   • Specifically after this, residents will then be called for a meeting for “Bantahan” (protest) session in MPSJ with all parties concerned.
   • If no resolution is achieved during this meeting and the Local Authority refused to revoke their decision, residents or protesters are required to pursue further proceedings to Lembaga Rayuan Negeri with the Form B.
   
   
4. Residents will be denied their rights to protest if Form C1 is issued by PBPT.
   
   
5. En. Saifuddin further elaborated to me in Bahasa Malaysia the following:
   
   “Orang yang terkilan dengan keputusan PBPT mesti ada “Local Standi” dimana kes ini terdapat penduduk bantah, namum penduduk tidak menerima Borang B, notis kepada pembantah, pemberian kebenaran merancang sebagaimana yang ditetapkan dalam perenggan 23(1)(6) dan kaedah-kaedah pengawalan perancangan 2001 serta kaedah-kaedah Lembaga Rayuan 1999. Jika mahu ke Lembaga Rayuan kes ini dianggap “PREMATURED” (Pra-Matang).

Apparently, none of our affected residents who lived within the perimeter of 20 meter received this Form B so far; a copy of the letter of confirmation signed by the affected is enclosed for your reference.

Besides, the 3rd meeting that is supposed to be held in 2 weeks after the site visit on 9th April, 2012 is still not held, although we have sent numerous letters enquiring about the date for the 3rd meeting. As such, we are most perplexed by the seemingly unusual course of events.

Furthermore, to our utmost dismay, neither Dato’ YDP nor En. Hazman (Tim. Pengarah Perancangan) responded to any of our letters todate, leaving us totally in the dark.

In the light of what’s happening in other nearby projects, like in Puteri 9, we trust that MPSJ will share our residents’ concern and allay our fears on the dangers posed by the Puteri Hills project. Denying our Rights to protest and appeal via abnormalies in the approval process certainly did not speak very highly of our Local Authority.

For your information, the Puteri Bayu’s Residents Association too is aligned with us in the protest against Puteri Hill’s project.

We believe our grievances as stated above warrant due inquiries to ascertain there is no negligence or abuse of power in the Planning process.

In any case, we are still anxiously waiting the 3rd meeting early to be appraised of the final decision made on this project and also to avail ourselves with the Form B for further appeal to the Lembaga Rayuan Negeri if necessary.

Lastly, we trust that you will address to our grievances and fears with justice and fairness at your earliest convenience.

We thank you in anticipation of your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Alice Choo
Chairman