Hands off our parks, developers told
Tony ThienPublished: Oct 1, 2005 6:49 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
Residents in one of Kota Kinabalu's major housing area are appealing to the government to protect and gazette all recreational spaces and green lungs in housing neighborhoods.
Residents in one of Kota Kinabalu's major housing area are appealing to the government to protect and gazette all recreational spaces and green lungs in housing neighborhoods.
Kingfisher Park resident committee chairperson S M Muthu said that his housing area is under threat from developers who intend to destroy a children's playground and other recreational spaces to build public roads.
He said the primary purpose of open spaces is to serve as green lungs and for recreational use.
"If every available space is to be developed then there is no necessity for such reserves. As such, these areas should not under any circumstances be commercially developed," said Muthu in a statement.
"A government task force should be set up to look into and gazette all open spaces, especially in housing areas," he stressed.
Who is the planner?
Muthu believes that the problem stems with such areas not being gazetted as required by the law, thus, the ambiguous status of the land could allow the possibility of development later
"As such, not surprisingly, it's the developers who end up as town planners. The city and local authority areas keep growing without any proper long-term plans. This is to the advantage of the developers whose prime concern is profits, not development per se," said Muthu
The tremendous upsurge in activities by developers is threatening open spaces and green reserves, said Muthu, adding that they may all disappear in time to come.
Muthu also cited a recent incident involving the development of an open space in the Tawau municipality, which is still unresolved.
CM's help sought
"We have been living peacefully for the last thirteen years with probably one of the best children's playground-cum-garden in Sabah if not Malaysia," he said, adding that preventive measures against such developments must be taken.
The residents committee had sent a letter to the Chief Minister Musa Aman in April to inform him of the matter but he had yet to respond.
"We are calling for the intervention of the chief minister and his cabinet to take all the necessary actions to protect the little citizens from any unscrupulous developers," he said.
Kingfisher Park resident committee chairperson S M Muthu said that his housing area is under threat from developers who intend to destroy a children's playground and other recreational spaces to build public roads.
He said the primary purpose of open spaces is to serve as green lungs and for recreational use.
"If every available space is to be developed then there is no necessity for such reserves. As such, these areas should not under any circumstances be commercially developed," said Muthu in a statement.
"A government task force should be set up to look into and gazette all open spaces, especially in housing areas," he stressed.
Who is the planner?
Muthu believes that the problem stems with such areas not being gazetted as required by the law, thus, the ambiguous status of the land could allow the possibility of development later
"As such, not surprisingly, it's the developers who end up as town planners. The city and local authority areas keep growing without any proper long-term plans. This is to the advantage of the developers whose prime concern is profits, not development per se," said Muthu
The tremendous upsurge in activities by developers is threatening open spaces and green reserves, said Muthu, adding that they may all disappear in time to come.
Muthu also cited a recent incident involving the development of an open space in the Tawau municipality, which is still unresolved.
CM's help sought
"We have been living peacefully for the last thirteen years with probably one of the best children's playground-cum-garden in Sabah if not Malaysia," he said, adding that preventive measures against such developments must be taken.
The residents committee had sent a letter to the Chief Minister Musa Aman in April to inform him of the matter but he had yet to respond. "We are calling for the intervention of the chief minister and his cabinet to take all the necessary actions to protect the little citizens from any unscrupulous developers," he said.
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