Kota Damansara may lose all its greenery

Kota Damansara may lose all its greenery

By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ

PETALING JAYA: Residents protesting against the opening of a cemetery in Kota Damansara here have found out that there are other plans in the growing township that could spoil the greenery there.

Section 9 resident Kong Seng Ong claimed that a development plan for the area, obtained from a meeting with Kota Damansara state assemblyman Datuk Mokhtar Ahmad Dahlan, revealed projects beyond just a cemetery.

Kong said the plans, that included a sports complex, housing development and a Petaling Jaya City Council quarters, would cut through the town's green lung.

He added that any change from the structural plan in the use of land would require public notification and inquiry, in which case “we were not informed”.

One aim: Residents and nature lovers in Kota Damansara gathering on Monday for a quiet protest against the plan to build a cemetery in Section 9.
On March 27, Mokhtar told a gathering of about 300 people here that work on the first Muslim cemetery in the township would continue despite objections by some residents.

Work on the first 0.22ha, which would contain 1,200 burial plots, started on March 17. The first burial is expected to take place by the end of this month.

Yesterday, two groups of residents – one opposing the cemetery and one supporting the idea –came face to face but a tense situation was averted when the opponents of the cemetery withdrew.

A Section 9 resident, Datin Noor Lelawati Khalid, agreed that all religious groups in Kota Damansara needed their own cemeteries but, she added, the authorities should choose a location that does not involve cutting down the forest.

She said the preservation of the oldest lowland forest in the Klang Valley was a national responsibility.