Civil society movement group Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur is offering assistance to residents’ associations and groups in the Malaysian capital to get more people to understand the content and implications of the draft Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040.
Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur chairman Datuk M. Ali said the group hopes to create more awareness, including getting people to understand the local plan, to enable them to provide their feedback and opinions to Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
“We believe many people are keen to know more about the plan but need some help. As such, we are offering training sessions to help people better understand the local plan,” said Ali.
“We hope to reach out to those who want to know more about the local plan, including the volumes, and the sections in the local plan to refer to. This includes how to submit their objections to the local authority.”
Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur, he said, will be conducting physical training sessions on March 16 and 17. An online training session will also be organised on March 20 to help KLites better understand the data and information in the plan.
“We believe City Hall has not created enough awareness of the plan. They need to do more to publicise it,” said Ali.
“We live in a country where people are generally not conscious about what’s going on around them until it impacts them directly… but by then, it will be too late.”
Ali admitted that the response from stakeholders to the plan appears to be lukewarm, compared to when the first draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan was launched in 2008.
“Perhaps in 2008, it was the first time that Kuala Lumpur had a city plan, and people were more ‘gung-ho’. But perhaps, after the 2008 plan was gazetted, people got fed-up,” he said.
“People probably felt it was pointless to voice out their opinions as it took a long time for the 2008 plan to be gazetted. Many commercial developments were objected to, but eventually saw light, as the approvals were done through the backdoor,” he said.
“Right now, I don’t hear many people voicing out about the 2040 plan. We need people to go through the plan and give their thoughts to City Hall. The local authority will require feedback in putting together the local plan as it will ultimately affect the masses,” he said.
Those wanting to reach out to Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur can email them at skl.secretariat@gmail.com.
Ali also hopes to see Kuala Lumpur MPs play a bigger role in helping the people understand the 2040 plan.
“MPs played a huge role in getting the ball rolling and helping people understand the plan in 2008. But we don’t see this happening today,” he said.
“We hope the minister and City Hall will understand the need for the extension as more time is needed to ensure more stakeholders can provide their feedback on the plan,” he said.
Launched on Jan 30, the draft Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040, was put up for public display on Jan 31. The plan outlines development for specific areas in the city. Once gazetted, it will become applicable for the next 20 years or until a new replacement plan is adopted.
The plan can be viewed and purchased at Menara DBKL 1 at Jalan Raja Laut and Menara DBKL 3 at Jalan Raja Abdullah.