Residents lodge MACC report against Selangor govt

PUTRAJAYA: Residents of Taman Melawati, Ampang, lodged a report yesterday with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Selangor government’s abrupt decision to build a convention centre instead of a centralised park, which was promised initially.

Taman Melawati Residents’ Association (TMRA) Zone ABC chairman Razman Hakimi Abdullah said the residents sought the commission’s help to investigate how and why the land status for recreational park was changed to commercial site for the building of a convention centre so quickly.

“The original plan of the project was approved in 2014 and we only found out the development of the park had been cancelled through a tender notice for building the convention centre that was published in Utusan Malaysia on May 18. Our question is: how can a mega project like this easily go through all the approval process within five months? Why weren’t we informed?

“We believe that there could be elements of power abuse and corruption in this issue, as one-third of the funding of the convention centre comes from the developer, Sime Darby, another one-third from the municipal council and the final one-third from the state government run by PKR,” Razman said after submitting the report to MACC here.

Plans for the proposed recreational park, known as Central Park, was scrapped to pave way for a convention centre on a 1.48ha land in Jalan Bandar 12 in Taman Melawati. It is expected to cost about RM25 million.

The two-year project is set to begin between December and January.

Razman said in exchange for the convention centre, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) said it would build the park on a smaller site, about 1km away.

“Sime Darby Property had promised to build the park next to Melawati Mall five years ago as part of its Taman Melawati redevelopment plan. This act is uncalled for.

“We are also disappointed as MPAJ refused to have a public hearing with the residents with regard to the matter.”