Bukit Damansara residents claim developer offered bribes

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Damansara residents who are against a proposed luxury condominium in the area claimed they were offered bribes by the developer ostensibly as "hush funds".
Former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Seri Shaik Daud Ismail said he was offered to relocate and sell his property at Bukit Damansara for "any price he wanted".
"This is very insulting, I am a former Court of Appeal judge and a former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) prosecutor as well. We don't want Damansara to be associated with this kind of thing," Shaik Daud told a press conference at Bukit Damansara today.
He claimed to have been approached by the developer about a month ago when the period for the public to voice objections against the project started.
Associate Professor Syed Farid Alatas, who inherited his property there from his father who served in the civil service, said he knew several other residents who were approached by the developer as well.
"We don't want any projects by a developer that offers this, especially since Malaysia has been ranked lower on the latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI)," Syed Farid said.
Setiakasih Residents Association (Perkasih) president Datuk Mustafa Mohamad Ali said he too was offered a donation of RM1.5 million from the developer, not to himself, but for the "security of the area".
"They may call this payment 'inducement', but we call this bribery," Mustafa said.
Mustafa said many of those residing in the area have done their service to the nation years before and deserve their retirement in the quiet suburbia of Bukit Damansara.
But, he said, the tranquility of Bukit Damansara will be disrupted by the proposed two block, 94 unit, 6 to 23-storey development, which will bring about higher population density and traffic congestion.
Besides the increased density, resident Olivier Rober, who is a geotechnical expert, said the foundation works for such a large development will likely loosen bed rocks underneath Bukit Damansara.
"If I was hired to develop a high-rise here, I wouldn't have accepted the contract because the bed rocks will come loose and cause landslides. Only greedy contractors who have no regard for the residents will develop here," he said.