Saturday, November 26, 2011

Residents want development to benefit community

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KUALA Lumpur mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail said the Bangsar Seafood Garden restaurant in Jalan Ara Bangsar still has the right to operate until the Court of Appeal hears the case.

Fuad said the developer of One Bangsar, Markibra Services, had procured a stay order and no date had been fixed for the hearing.

The entire stretch along Jalan Ara Bangsar was filled with chic outlets like Sagar Restaurant, House of Tang, Signature Snips Hair Salon, CungDinh Vietnam Restaurant, Saigon, Divino, Zens Korean BBQ and Vincenzo Ristorante Italiano.

No more: Only the signboards are indications of the outlets that once operated in One Bangsar.

About three months ago, the shops slowly started moving out following a court case that arose after the status of the land that was converted from residential to commercial expired in December 2009.

Unhappy residents who had to deal with a host of problems opposed the renewal of the business licences and asked the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to revert the status to residential.

The Markibra Services in turn filed a judicial review to stop the planning permission. However, City Hall won the case and Markibra has filed an appeal.

Only the Bangsar Seafood Garden restaurant is still opearting along the stretch.

Bangsar Baru Residents Association president Datuk George Joseph said it was up to the owner of the land, Eng Lian Enterprise, to propose future developments on the site.

“Of course we hope to have developments that will benefit the community like a carpark. It will definitely reduce the number of cars double parked in the area,” he said.

However George firmly said they would oppose any future plans for restaurants. According to him, restaurants would only increase noise pollution and traffic congestion.

Lone ranger: The Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant is the only outlet still operating at One Bangsar.

“We want the place to be developed because leaving it idle may turn the stretch into a dumping ground,” he added.

Bukit Bandaraya Residents Association deputy president M. Ali said they preferred to revert the land status to residential.

“The land should be used for bungalows according to the original plan,” he said.

Eng Lian Enterprise Property Management head Tan Joon Kai said it was premature to have plans for the land.

He added that they would wait for Markibra Services to enlighten them on the status before deciding on the type of development.

Tan also said their company considered the feedback from the residents and business community important in the decision-making process.

“We ultimately must ensure that the land will be used for the greater good of the neighbourhood,” he added.

Representatives from Markriba Services could not be reached for comments.

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