KUALA LUMPUR – Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) must cease spending public funds lavishly on lawyers to represent them against their own residents, said Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, after the council supposedly spent over a million ringgit in the case involving Taman Rimba Kiara.
The PKR lawmaker said the funds should instead be channelled for the benefit of Kuala Lumpur residents, in particular the urban poor.
This follows the federal court’s decision to dismiss DBKL’s final appeal against residents of Taman Tiara Titiwangsa who objected to the development of a high-density project in the area, which was awarded to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP).
Nik Nazmi said the ruling by the apex court is a vindication of the hard work and persistent struggle by the residents who have been embroiled in a years-long battle with DBKL over the project.
Taking to Twitter, he recalled his criticism of the city hall in 2019 for appealing the Court of Appeal’s decision that declared the public objection hearing held by the city council null and void, as it was inadequately conducted.
“I emphasised that DBKL should instead learn to improve how it carries out objections instead of filing appeals.
“In April this year, together with the residents of Taman Tiara Titiwangsa, we asked how much was spent by DBKL in hiring outside lawyers for cases in Taman Tiara Titiwangsa and why did DBKL insist on appealing cases that have been won by residents?
“Between 2018 to 2021, DBKL had spent RM1.1 million on legal fees against residents in the Taman Rimba Kiara case, including RM433,000 to a former senior judge to represent DBKL at the Court of Appeal.
“The rakyat’s money should not be used to hire expensive lawyers in cases that not only have been decided by ordinary courts, but the Court of Appeal. Instead, the same money could be spent for the benefit of the city’s residents, especially the urban poor,” he said today.
On Monday, The Vibes reported that residents of Taman Tiara Titiwangsa have won their long-standing case against DBKL over the former’s objections against a project awarded to YWP, after the Federal Court ruled that the city council’s appeal on the matter was “futile” as the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 had already come into force.
DBKL was ordered to pay RM50,000 in costs to the residents.
The team of lawyers who represented the residents of Taman Tiara Titiwangsa consisted of Datuk Cyrus V. Das, Derek J. Fernandez, L.S. Leonard, R. Thanasegar, and Poh Kuang Horng. – The Vibes, July 7, 2022
