Monday, December 15, 2008

NEED FOR HILLSLIDE DEVELOPMENT RULES

Let me apologise for the long silence. There had been a few incidents over the last month and this took up time. I have not abandoned the blog, or my correspondence with netizens.
Over the last two weeks the whole country had been abuzz with the landslide in Bkt Antarabangsa, which claimed four innocent lives. This is a tragedy, and the finger pointing began. The Works Ministry has come out to say that this was a man-made accident and something must be done to prevent more such occurrence. Although, Bkt Antarabangsa does not fall under Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur, I visited the area and it was shocking.
Now in Kuala Lumpur itself, we have a few hillside development and this includes the controversial Medan Damansara hillside development. We in the Federal Territory Ministry have decided to release a guideline on hillside developments soon, to be drafted by the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Environment Ministry.
The Federal Territory Ministry has asked the two Ministries to study all aspects of hillside development. The guideline would be applicable in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.
Apart from that, the Ministry has also decided to freeze all hillside development as we are very serious of the damage and especially the loss of lives from landslides.

I had also received several feedback on the demolition of a temple at Old Klang Road last month. Yes, the temple was demolished! The City Hall (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur) had on several occasion sent various notice to the said temple but to my dismay, the temple management took it lightly and did not act on it.
Had I been notified of the notices, I would have done all in my power to ensure that events did not come to this. But, what is done is done. I have spoken to the Minister about the temple and it was decided that the temple, which was located at a former Kampung area which had been relocated, to be given a piece of land. The construction of a new temple is on the way being arranged.
My plea to all Hindus in Kuala Lumpur, if the temple you go to is unregistered, please ask, request the temple management to get the temple or temples registered as soon as possible.
If the face any trouble from City Hall, get in touch with my office at Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. We have to safeguard all places of worship, not only Hindu temples but also that of all religion. I also very much hope that places of worship are not demolished blindly in this nation. This becomes very sensitive and has various implications. Lets hope for the best.