Ara Damansara

By LeeYK
Sept 2

Hooray! Heavy machinery are back on site and workers are busy working. We are not sure if they will close the road totally or allow us to use one side of the road while they work on the other side. The sign board is loud and clear though: it’s no entry and use it at your own risk!

School holidays starts Monday so this is a small consolation should they decide to close the road totally. But the thought of going back to the old route via the FAS tunnel is …. sigh….

Well, as they say, no pain no gain. Let’s hope they will do a good job and get it done quickly.

And no more surprises please!

Source: TheStar

PUTRAJAYA: New guidelines for gated communities and guarded neighbourhoods will be implemented with immediate effect, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Thursday.

These include a specific height for fences and a permanent guardhouse with security personnel manning the area around the clock for gated communities, while guarded neighbourhoods must ensure that boom gates and guard posts are temporary structures which can be removed if found unsuitable by the local authorities.

However, existing gated communities and guarded neighbourhoods have been exempted from having to follow the guidelines.

“Local authorities will approve the gated community concept by developers or guarded neighbourhoods proposed by residents’ associations only if all points stated in the guidelines are met,” Muhyiddin told reporters here after chairing the National Council for Local Government meeting.

He added that the guidelines, approved and endorsed by council, were aimed at streamline these facilities.

“The guidelines, however, do not touch on the issue of pricing as this is for the concerned parties to negotiate and decide,” he said.

Muhyiddin said it was also important that approval be given by a higher percentage of residents before a guarded neighbourhood could be implemented.

He added that a by-law would later be formulated to allow local authorities to take action against those failing to abide by the guidelines.

In a gated community, all roads and facilities in the gated areas are privately-owned, whereas in guarded neighbourhoods, residents engage security services but the roads and facilities within the area are public infrastructure.

Gated communities and guarded neighbourhoods have sprung up in recent years, especially in urban areas, as a initiative by residents to protect themselves.

However, criticism has been levelled at the security firms employed as they often limit access to the areas.

Simply amazing! Over eight days, we received a total of 564 signatures for this campaign. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for your wonderful support! It is the right thing to do: standing up for our rights for a beautiful and tranquil neighbourhood that we are proud of.

We are very fortunate to have a group of selfless volunteers. They sacrificed their personal time to print, distribute and checking every day at the designated guard houses. Some put in extra efforts to go door to door to gather support. Two took the initiative to speak with the owners of Kedai Kapitan and Klinik Mediviron. A very BIG thank you to Encik Amin and Dr Patrick for supporting our campaign!

We have good support from almost all phases of this community. Residents at Ara Vista (Semi-D) and Palemo provided the biggest support with 24% each. Calarosa and Catarina each contributed 11%. Winchester was very close behind at 10%. The balance came from Embun (7%), Berkeley (6%) and Others (7%).

We now await the date of the public hearing. We need to form a strong defence team and we need subject matter experts to help out. Those familiar with town planning, traffic study, environmental protection, local by-laws, real estates, legal, engineering, public relations and marketing are welcome to join us.

This neighbourhood can remain as a sanctuary with beautiful parks and resort-like living with tranquility. Or it can be turned into a place with traffic nightmares, haphazard parking, dirty streets with rodents, high levels of pollution and worst of all, crime-prone streets. Just imagine the value of our property in such a neighbourhood.

So please support us!

Please contact admin@aradamansara.com if you think you can help.

Posted by LeeYK
Source: theStar Aug 27
Pic by LeeYK

THE Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) wants the developer TA First Credit Sdn Bhd to complete the missing Ara Daman-sara-Tropicana link.

The issue was discussed during the recent MBPJ full board chaired by mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman.

Engineering director Cheremi Tarman said the developer wrote to the council to inform they would stop work on the road.

“They were advised by their lawyers to stop because of the court injunction filed by residents.

“To continue work, they want a written authorisation letter from the council to give them indemnity from the civil suit,” said Cheremi.

However, legal adviser Abd Muttalib Mohd Ali said there was no need for the council to do so because the condition to build the link as part of area’s development was there from the start.

He added that the developer could continue work on the link because the land was surrendered to the state government.

Councillor Chan Chee Kong said if the developer refused to complete the road, the council could complete it and bill them.

Councillor Tiew Way Keng added that since the condition was put in place, the council could decide not to issue a certificate of fitness (CF) to the developer if they did not complete the link.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Roslan said all the conditions requested by the residents who filed the injunction in 2004 were met.

The three conditions were: to complete the Subang interchange, to widen the Tropicana tunnels and to conduct a traffic study.

He said the traffic study was conducted together with that for the Megah Mas and FAS tunnels.

On other issues, the full board has agreed to Tiew’s suggestion for the council to study the implication of lowering assessment rates in Petaling Jaya.

Roslan also announced MBPJ would be implementing the Clean Zone programme for the second year, after Section 52 was selected to be cleaned up under the programme initiated by the Selangor government.

He said they had chosen Damansara Perdana and Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara to be turned into clean zones.

He urged all councillors and MBPJ officers to work together to improve the condition in these two areas .

The meeting also saw the first public appearance by Damansara Utama assemblyman Dr Cheah Wing Yin, five months after he was hit by a vehicle along the Federal Highway.

Dr Cheah moved about with the aid of a walker with his assistant Richard Yap by his side.

By LeeYK
Aug 27

Traffic lights are now installed at the Persiaran junction. Once testing is complete, it should be operational soon.

The current impasse is ending. We were told MBPJ has written to the developer to resume work. The developer has responded they will only do so if their conditions are met. MBPJ has given them the green light to proceed.

It will take a few more weeks to complete this stretch: completing the pavements, tarring and turning on the street lights. It is likely the link will be open by end September.

That’s on the assumption that the recalcitrants don’t throw any more tantrums.

Dear Ara Damansarians,

In view of the new deadline on Ara Greens project, the signature campaign is now extended to this Saturday 28th August.

We like to thank all who have signed the forms, your support is very encouraging!

This campaign is organized by a loose group of volunteers. Because of the earlier very tight deadline, we may not have been as organized and therefore not meeting your expectations. We ask for your forgiveness as this is our first attempt but surely, we have now gained the experience.

If the forms are no longer available at the guard houses, please drop by at Kedai Kapitan or Klinik Mediviron along Jalan PJU 1A/20.

We need more residents to sign as it represents the voice of Ara Damansarians.

So if you have been busy lately, please make a detour (either on your way to work or on your way home) and support us in this campaign.

Thank you very much!

Currently ongoing..

And our kindly community physician, Dr Patrick Gurubatham of Klinik Mediviron will also make signature forms available at his clinic for your signing.   Thanks Dr Patrick!

I walked by the board today and discovered that the authorities have extended the protest submission deadline to Sunday, 5-September.  Someone obviously did not check that the date falls on a Sunday!

Ara Greens Wellness Healthcare City

Anyway, that’s good news which gives us a little more time to collect signatures.  Especially over the weekend.  Don’t forget that this Friday is a holiday in Selangor for Nuzul Quran so those planning to go away, please ensure you pen down your signature before away on holiday.  May I suggest all Signature Campaign forms be collected by the coordinator at each enclave on Monday, August 30 for submission to the drivers of this protest.

To put the development into some pictorial perspective, I did a mock-up matrix from its description on the board.  Looks massive!

Matrix of description

The adapted letter looks good, covering relevant aspects current to this project.

Dear Ara Damansarians,

Here is the sample cover letter that we plan to send to MBPJ. This letter is copied from the last letter we sent on the other high rise project next to Stesyen Petronas. The signature pages will be attached to the letter.

In view of the very short notice on this signing, we are extending the signing to tomorrow night (Aug 24). The signing forms are available at the mentioned guard houses and at Kedai Kapitan for your convenience, there is no restriction on who can sign at which location.

———————— sample cover letter ———————————–

Datuk Bandar
Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya
Tingkat 2, Jalan Yong Shook Lin
46675 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
BY FAX: 03 7958 1494
BY EMAIL: aduan@mbpj.gov.my

Dear Sir

PER: CADANGAN PEMBANGUNAN “ARA GREENS WELLNESS AND HEALTHCARE CITY WITH GATED AND GUARDED COMMUNITY” DI ATAS PT 1427 JALAN PJU 1A/20, MUKIM DAMANSARA, DAERAH PETALING, SELANGOR DAUL EHSAN

We, the undersigned residents of Ara Damansara, wish to bring to your attention our concerns and objections with regard to the above proposed project. We would summarise these as follows:-

1. Increase in traffic density/congestion due to high density nature of project
a. During rush hour there already is congestion at all traffic lights within Ara Damansara (some of which are frequently out of order, especially at the junction of PJU1A/20 and 1A/3). This project states 960 units serviced apartments which we expect will be fully residential apartments. With only one car park bay per apartment and the average number of cars per household to be 2 or 3; we can expect an increase of at least 1000 cars parked haphazardly and double-parked along the intersection of PJU1A/20 and PJU 1A/3 which is currently already facing this problem as a result of the businesses operating in Dataran Ara. This will be the situation every evening and weekends, congesting the entrances to the various enclaves and escalating the hazard risk to unacceptable levels.
b. Furthermore, Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang and the exit to the NKVE are already experiencing severe congestion now that the Kg Subang road has been straightened prior to widening the pillars of the NKVE bridge over Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang. A high density project comprising both office and residential units will definitely increase congestion further within Ara Damansara and along Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang, further aggravated by the impending completion of the Oasis project at the entrance to Ara Damansara. The other tunnel access through Taman Mayang Mas and Subang Vista is already suffering unbearable traffic during peak hours via their narrow single lane access roads.

2. Safety
Such tall buildings should not be allowed in an area which is in the direct flight path of many low flying aircraft, especially helicopters and the proximity of the project to SAAS Airport and the nearby hangars poses a serious safety threat, both to occupants of the proposed project as well as the aircraft personnel/passengers.

3. Risk of Abandonment
a. The Platinum Damansara project, also in Ara Damansara, was abandoned about 3 years ago and is now a major eyesore and it is very similar in concept (commercial plus service apartments). If there were not enough buyers then (when the market was stronger) who is to say this project can get sufficient sales now to see it through completion? We do not need another eyesore here in Ara Damansara. Furthermore there are already many unoccupied commercial properties in the vicinity, both in Ara Damansara as well as nearby in Jalan Lembah Subang. These unoccupied lots attract vagrants turning the premises into haunts for their vices.
b. There is a similar project next door comprising of 3 blocks of high rise with a total of 320 units of service apartments. In this short stretch of Jalan PJU 1A/20, there will be a total of 1280 units of service apartments. We question the viability of the success of such service apartments resulting in a very high risk of abandonment.

4. Drainage and Risk of Floods
The project is bordered by 2 monsoon drains at its sides and Sg Kayu Ara at its back.
The whole of Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang is prone to flooding and this has increased significantly in the last 12 months. During heavy rainfall the level of Sungai Kayu Ara rises to alarming levels as the de-silting works on it have yet to be completed and it is often polluted with garbage further worsening the river flow. As such, there will be increased risk of flooding once this project is begun due to soil run-off adding more silt to the already shallow river.

We would further like to query if the proposed project is on land that was originally gazetted for residential or green lung purposes as this constitutes a misrepresentation by the original landowners/developer, Sime Pilmoor, as to the overall development and “tranquility” (their actual words) of Ara Damansara. This project, if it proceeds, will certainly reduce further what little tranquility is left, what with the increased traffic and noise (including aircraft landings, take-offs and engine testing from Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah and helicopters flying low overhead).

In view of the above concerned observations we strongly urge Datuk Bandar not to approve the above project and seek an audience with your goodself within 14 days of receipt of this letter.

Thank you in advance for your kind consideration and look forward to a sincere discussion with you.

Yours sincerely
Ara Damansara Residents ### signatures attached from

cc
YAB Tan Sri Dato` Seri Abdul Khalid Bin Ibrahim
Dato’ Menteri Besar Negeri Selangor
Pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor Tingkat 21,
Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah,
40503 Shah Alam
——————————— end ——————————————-

Day/Date: Monday, 20 September
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Bilik Mawar, MBPJ Head Office
Request one representative from each enclave compile list of attendees from own enclave to this meeting. Post your attendee list to the Comments portion of this message. This project development is particularly relevant to the enclaves (Chelmsford, Berkeley, Calarosa & Palemo) accessed via PJU 1A/19.