Residents to fight development of field

PETALING JAYA: A group of residents in Kelana Jaya have come together to form the "Say No To Sports City PJ" movement to halt the development of the field in front of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) Complex.
The residents are unhappy that the project is proceeding despite the gazetted status of the land being deemed to have been fraudulently changed from "recreational" to "commercial".
The questionable change has increased the land value from about RM20 per sq ft to about RM500 per sq ft and the residents are demanding that Selangor Mentri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali stop the development and save the field.
"We are concerned as there were media reports of the company announcing the development of the field into an integrated sports and commercial complex.
"The announcement by this company is blatant defiance of the gazetted status of the field as a green and recreational area," said secretary of Gerakan Selamatkan Padang Rakyat Esham Salam.
The residents are querying how the company could make the development announcement when the application for a development order had been rejected by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
"An application to develop a recreational space should be rejected automatically, and we would like to know why this was not the case.
"We would also like to know why, after two years, no action has been taken against the officers in the Selangor select committee on competency, accountability and transparency (Selcat) who were identified in an inquiry as being party to the forgery of a government gazette?" Ehsam added.
In 2012, the Selcat inquiry concluded that the change of the status of the field was deemed to have "elements of fraud" and the planning department officers of MBPJ involved in the matter were "reckless, incompetent and unprofessional".
This led to MBPJ rejecting the development plan for the field by PKNS in June 2012, which came as a relief to the residents. But the relief was short-lived as the development plan seems to have re-emerged, with Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen disclosing that he was told by a source that an application to develop the field was submitted in January 2014 to then mentri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
However, MBPJ councillors are denying that an application was made, although the company made an announcement on the development plan last week.
"My position on the matter is very clear, I am opposed to this development and will bring the matter up to Azmin. I will also seek an explanation from the PKNS chief executive officer, as there is no point writing to Khalid now," Wong said.