Suddenly KL Mayor had a change of mind

Heard some Pemuda UMNO in FT called us blogger "mengarut" for posting on controversy of high end development with Development Order given by DBKL for an area slotted for 100% affordable housing at Dato Keramat, Kuala Lumpur.

When members of a political party with an election slogan "Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian diutamakan" make such remarks, it is only a hint of more to be uncovered.

Dato Rocky previously asked why FT Minister was silent and have remained silent ever since. Media, believed to be Astro Awani TV reported KL Mayor willing to meet the resident.

Suddenly there is a change of mind by KL Mayor.

Our past posting claimed KL Mayor may have lied on this issue, particularly claiming the published DO does not exist.

Pemuda UMNO reaction only raises more curiosity because more such strange developments - of cheap land allegedly transfered to DBKL land for cheap but prioritised resale to taukeh-taukeh - spotted around Kuala Lumpur FT.  

There was 37 questions of ours that need to be answered. Hopefully the residents could ask them. Two of it was: 

• Why can't FT Minister intervene? 

• Was there a deposit paid that FT Minister is reluctant to reimburse? 

If FT Minister used his power to intervene, UDA, Prima, SPNB or any agencies can step in and develop it.

Pity as Bernama reported:

KL Mayor Refuses To Meet Keramat Residents Over Apartment Issue

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will not budge from its decision to build only 274 affordable apartment units in Bukit Keramat which will be offered to Bumiputeras at less than RM200,000.

Stressing his stand on this issue, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said he would not meet with the residents who were opposing the project.

His firm stand was a reaction to the ultimatum given by the residents who insisted on meeting him and Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor within this week or they would submit a protest note to the prime minister.

"It is DBKL's land, not theirs. But if they want to meet me individually, I can explain to them," he told reporters after attending the signing of a memorandum of understanding between DBKL and Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA), here, today.

Mhd Amin said DBKL could not entertain the demand of the residents that the project must totally comprise affordable homes.

He said DBKL did not have the funds to build affordable homes like the government housing agencies do and it could only bank on joint-ventures with the private sector to ensure that affordable homes were built for city dwellers.

He added that DBKL only provided the land for which the developer would pay RM16 million, on the condition that 50 per cent were affordable apartment units costing below RM200,000.

"Actually, the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (REDHA) has discussed with me that the price of less than RM200,000 is not logical and nobody can do it without a subsidy.

"DBKL is not giving the subsidy to the developer. The developer has to build the units at less than RM600,000 to get the subsidy for the units priced below RM200,000," he said.

On the offer by UDA Holdings Berhad to build all of the affordable homes for below RM200,000 on the land, he said this could not be done as the land had been sold to the private developer before UDA submitted its proposal in October.

Yesterday, a coalition of non-governmental organisations and the residents gave an ultimatum to the Federal Territories Minister and KL Mayor to meet with them at the project site to explain the status of the project.

Its chairman Norham Shazali Abdul Hamid said Keramat residents wanted the developer to offer all the 548 apartment units at below RM200,000.

The apartment project is scheduled to begin soon, involving the construction of 274 affordable homes priced at less than RM200,000 and another 274 units at the market price.

-- BERNAMA

That is no way to get BN voted in.

With people unable to understand and comprehend on policies that resulted in prices kept going up, suddenly this poor delivery by an agency under JPM but under the power of FT Minister. It does not help the PM's cause.

Or someone inside prefers it that way. The Chinese character for chaos could also mean opportunity albeit said in a different tone. 

Sadly, PRIMA is working concurrently to build some 250,000 homes and it was reported yesterday that the first 10,000 is due to deliver. Timely delivery before the next general election.

Suddenly DBKL went on a "Taukeh didahulukan, Rakyat dicapatikan" mode.