GOMBAK – Hulu Kelang state assemblyman Saari Sungib has welcomed the Selangor administration’s decision to gazette a popular picnic spot at the foot of Bukit Tabur quartz ridge as an open green space soon.
The two-term assemblyman said that he has been requesting the authorities to free the area situated close to Klang Gates Dam from the presence of illegal squatters over the last twelve years.
“With the latest decision by Selangor’s executive council, my struggle all these years is finally bearing fruit,” he told The Vibes.
He alleged that the Gombak Land and District Office and other state agencies had refused to cooperate in addressing the problem arising from the settlement of Kg Warisan in the area.
“Since 2010 I had highlighted a couple of times in the Selangor legislative assembly to gazette this place as a public recreational site and it has been a futile effort,” said the Selangor Amanah deputy chairman.
While expressing delight with the decision to return the green space to the community, Taman Melawati Residents Association (TMRA) has been astonished by the prolonged lack of action since the 1990s by the authorities against the illegal colony on Lot 818.
“We have the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, Gombak Land and District Office, Irrigation and Drainage Department, Selangor Water Management Authority, Environment Department, Air Selangor, member of Parliament, and state assemblyman. Wondering what they have been doing all this while?” asked TMRA chairman Azhari Abd Taharim.
“Since the laws are crystal clear from day one, why wasn’t there any initiative by the respective authorities to come forward and do the necessary audit and take action?”
As a long-time resident who stays just a 15-minute walk from the dam, Azhari said the natural surrounding around the Sg Klang headstream is a gift to the community.
Recalling the heydays, he said the green site next to Klang Gates Dam was a nature’s haven.
“It’s a spot where I brought my children swimming and a hideout for Melawatians to bring families for picnics,” said Azhari, who has been residing in Taman Melawati since 1990.
However, he claimed that things began to change when a federal minister had launched an event by the riverside 15 years ago and rebranded the green lung as Taman Warisan.
“From then on, the population of the settlement has multiplied, which till today, if I am not mistaken, has increased up to a total of 80 families,” said the 63-year-old retiree.
In view of the latest exercise by the authorities to turn Bukit Tabur into part of the Gombak-Hulu Langat Geopark, he hopes that all the respective agencies will organise a roundtable meeting as soon as possible.
“Let’s decide once and for all on the way forward about the land close to the Klang Gates Dam,” he urged.
Following the expose by The Vibes recently, MPAJ had raided an eco-tourism operator on July 22 for conducting activities at the Sg Klang upstream without approval from the authorities.
In a high-level meeting of Selangor’s executive council on August 10, it was decided that the agricultural land near the dam be gazetted under Section 62 of the National Land Code as a river reserve or open space for a recreational park in the future.
For the record, Section 62 of the National Land Code (Act 56 of 1965) allows state governments to gazette any state land for public purposes.
It was also decided that the residents of Kg Warisan will be relocated to nearby development areas.
The Gombak Land and District Office has confirmed that Kg Warisan had not been registered in the list of traditional villages in the Gombak district all along.
The recent decision by Selangor’s executive council coincides with the state administration’s policy to preserve the environmentally sensitive area around the belts of Bukit Tabur as announced two months ago by state Tourism, Environment, Green Technology, and Orang Asli Affairs exco Hee Loy Sian.
It was reported in 2019 that the Bukit Tabur quartz ridge was to be gazetted by the Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry as a national heritage site under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). – The Vibes, October 20, 2022
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