Tuesday June 23, 2009
YB Ronnie Liu: Small part of Subang Ria Park can be developed
The Star reports by THO XIN YI and JADE CHAN at the Subang Jaya Draft Local Plan public hearing
THE Selangor state government will take steps to protect the interests of the landowner and the public with regards to the Subang Ria Park, said state local government, studies and research committee chairman Ronnie Liu.
“If we can convince the private company that owns the park land to keep most of it as a public amenity, we won’t say no to having a small part of it developed,” he said.
“It will be crazy for the state government to acquire it as the land cost for the 29.14ha park is estimated to be more than RM100mil.”
He said this at the second public hearing for the Subang Jaya Draft Local Plan yesterday which was chaired by state housing, building management and squatters committee chairman Iskandar Abdul Samad.
According to Iskandar, other issues raised during the hearing included the need for a crematorium and places of worship for non-Muslims, requests for a hospital, health clinics and activity centre for senior citizens, a link road between Taman Saujana Putra and Taman Lestari Putra as well as traffic congestion.
“Subang Jaya is a matured township but was planned without adequate amenities to cater to its large population,” said Liu.
“Most of the areas under the Subang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPSJ) jurisdiction are already saturated with development, so the shortfalls have to be addressed and located in areas like Putra Heights.”
The Buddhist Committee for the MPSJ Draft Local Plan, an umbrella group representing several Buddhist associations under the MPSJ’s jurisdiction, had highlighted the need for an additional provision of 38 Buddhist temples to cater to the community, as only one piece of land in Puchong Utama had been allocated in the draft local plan for this purpose.
“We urge the MPSJ to adhere to the Selangor Town and Country Planning Department’s guidelines in relation to the provisions for building places of worship for non-Muslims, which is one place of worship for every 2,600 devotees or 5,000 residents.
“This is to cater to the spiritual and religious needs of the estimated 239,533 Buddhist devotees out of the 561,918 residents in the MPSJ area,” said committee chairman Loka Ng.
The projection is based on the 2008 demographic figures derived from the Selangor Economic Planning Unit and Department of Statistics.
On the next step, Iskandar said all the feedback and objections would be compiled over the next three months by the State Planning Department, which is the hearing’s secretariat or the hearing committee.
“The secretariat will look into the comments to decide if these are relevant or not, then discuss and include them in the draft local plan.
“If the objection cannot be accepted, the secretariat will call the complainant to discuss the issue again on a case-by-case basis.
“The local plan will then be gazetted sometime early next year,” said Iskandar.
.....................................................................................................................................
Star Metro, Tuesday June 23, 2009
Decision on cemetery project in three months
THE Selangor state government has promised to make a decision on the cemetery project at the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve in less than three months.
“This issue is beyond the state planning committee and will be discussed by the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES).
“A special session will be held in July by the state executive councillors before we make a decision,” state housing, building management and squatters committee chairman Iskandar Abdul Samad said at the Subang Jaya Draft Local Plan hearing held at the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) complex yesterday.
It is here: Signature Campaign Teamwork members pointing out the land earmarked for the cemetery project. On the right is Ng.
A group of 20 residents, on behalf of the Signature Campaign Teamwork (SCT, which comprises representatives from Bandar Bukit Puchong, Taman Saujana Puchong, Gateway Puchong, Lestari Puchong and Mutiara Indah), submitted a memorandum to state tourism, consumer affairs and environment chairman Elizabeth Wong and MPSJ president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan to reinstate their strong objection against the cemetery project.
“This cemetery, if built, will be located right next to our homes. We have been fighting for the abortion of this project since April 2004. We have asked the government to move the project to a place far away from residential areas.
“This is also to ensure that the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve remains as it is to preserve the environment,” SCT member Ng Chee Kwong said.
He added that the court case pertaining to this issue had been put on hold indefinitely for the Selangor government to make a decision.
Meanwhile, former Kelana Jaya MP Loh Seng Kok, who represented the Lagoon Perdana Residents Association at the hearing, expressed his dissatisfaction towards the committee for starting the session late.
“It was supposed to start at 9am but was postponed for one hour and 15 minutes. We were told that the exco members had to attend a meeting at the State Secretariat Building. This shouldn’t be the case. They should arrange their schedule and should not keep us waiting,” he said.
One of the issues he raised at the hearing was the absence of a clinic in USJ for which the Federal Government had allocated RM8mil under the Ninth Malaysian Plan. “I don’t see this project indicated in this draft local plan,” he said.
State local government, studies and research committee chairman Ronnie Liu agreed that a public clinic was needed as an alternative to the private medical centres but said it was not easy to find land to build it.
“It might be built in Putra Heights, for example and I hope the people will understand,” he said.
Liu added that negotiations were now under way for an interchange to be built to link Seri Kembangan to the Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya Dedicated Highway to ease traffic congestion.
..................................................................................
Decision on cemetery in Puchong to be known in 3 months
NST 2009/06/23 by Sheila Sri Priya
Iskandar Abdul Samad says cemetery issue needs to be discussed at the state level
SUBANG JAYA: Residents living around the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, in Puchong, will know in three months whether they will have a cemetery in their backyard.
State executive councillor Iskandar Abdul Samad told the residents at a public hearing on the Subang Jaya Local Draft Plan that a decision would be made by then on whether to gazette 22.2ha of the land in the forest reserve as a cemetery.
Residents living in Bandar Bukit Puchong, Gateway Puchong, Lestari Puchong, Mutiara Indah and Saujana Puchong objected to the plans to have a cemetery in the vicinity of their housing areas.
About 1,500 residents had submitted their objections against the plan to have the cemetery. The issue was first raised in 2004.
"We will inform the residents once the decision has been made. I think the cemetery issue needs to be discussed further at the state level," said Iskandar.
Another state executive councillor Ronnie Liu said the state was also aware that there was no crematorium in the Subang Jaya municipality.
Liu said Subang Jaya was a matured township which did not have many amenities such as places of worship for non-Muslims, a crematorium and also government hospitals or clinics.
"Since most areas are already developed, we need to find the space in the less developed areas to build these amenities. Finding a suitable site is the biggest challenge.
"But the public also need to welcome the idea of having a crematorium in their township," said Liu.
Four Buddhist associations -- the Subang Jaya Buddhist association; Fo Guang Buddhist Association of Malaysia USJ branch, Serdang; Seri Kembangan Buddhist Association; and Kinrara Metta Buddhist Society of Puchong had called for the provision of places for worship for non-Muslims here.
The representatives said based on the population projection in Selangor by the Selangor State Economic Planning Unit in 2006, there were more than 254,000 Chinese living in the Subang Jaya district.
"Subang Jaya has more then 240,000 Buddhist devotees. With reference to the guideline by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, in relation to the provisions for building of places of worship for non-Muslims, there should be one place of worship for every 2,600 devotees or 5,000 residents.
"We should have about 38 Buddhist temples within the Subang Jaya district but we only have about six Buddhist temples," said Loka Ng, a spokesman for the Buddhist Committee on MPSJ Draft Local Plan which represents all the Buddhist associations.
On another issue, Liu said several senior citizens had also asked for a senior citizens' centre.
....................................................................................
Dear Dhamma Friends,
The Draft Plan Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor (MDHS) 2020 covering Bkt Beruntung, Serendah, Hulu Yam, KKBharu, Batang Kali, Kerling, Lembah Beringin etc areas has been open for comments sometime ago. According to official data, these areas are estimated to have a total of 37,361 Buddhist residents or ~12.2% of the 2020 total population in MDHS.
The Jabatan Perancangan Bandar & Desa Selangor D.E. (or JBDS; a department of the Ministry of Housing & Local Government) stipulates that the planning standard for one place of worship (other than Islam) should be to 2600 adherents of that religion or 5000 of the total local population.
In the MDHS Draft Plan 2020, MDHS will allocate not allocate any additional "rizab keagamaan" plot (other than Islam denomination) as MDHS claims that there are existing 90 tokong/vihara Buddha (not listed down though). MDHS adopts a restrictive approach with this statement "Penyediaan tempat ibadat bukan Islam seperti kuil, tokong (vihara Buddha) dan gereja perlu tertakluk kepada kelulusan dan pemantauan oleh pihak MDHS bagi mengawal pertumbuhannya dari segi bilangan agar ia tidak disediakan melebihi daripada tahap keperluananya" Jilid I MS 3-149
PLEASE STUDY THE ATTACHED BANTAHAN (Bantahan_MDHS.xls)
We need MDHS to identify more land (& funds from tax-payers) allocated for the building of Buddhist viharas/temples in the above areas proportionate to its population in MDHS. If you support this, please provide the following information
Public Opinion Form Majlis Daerah Hulu Selangor Draft Plan 2020
Participant's Information
Name :
Postal Address :
No. HP/Tel :
Email Address :
Organisation (if applicable) :
Please email to: teckseong@gmail.com
We need as many names as possible by 10.00AM, 31st January 2010
ALTERNATIVELY
1. You may check the MDHS Draft Plan 2020 and obtain the "e-opinion" form from the MDHS website
2. Please download the attached bantahan details & bantahan form, fill them up with your particulars & send personally or by post to MPHS before 31st January 2010.
3. If you are not residing in MDHS areas you can also participate by the sending the requested particulars as above & returning the email to us (as we are compiling a polled objection).
PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR BUDDHIST FRIENDS
a. Ask your friends to endorse this Bantahan via emails (different names staying in same address is ok)
b. To ask all your Buddhist/Chinese relatives, neighbours and friends in MDHS area to submit the Bantahan.
Thank you for your support.
With Metta,
Bro Chua Teck Seong
Selangor Buddhist Development Committee
