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The Star
Wednesday March 19, 2008
Storm in a teacup
By SALINA KHALID
THE Kota Damansara Muslim Cemetery will remain but there will be no more development in the area, according to Kota Damansara state assemblyman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim.
“We have decided to keep the cemetery but at the same time ensure that the surrounding will remain a green area.
Wednesday March 19, 2008
Storm in a teacup
By SALINA KHALID
THE Kota Damansara Muslim Cemetery will remain but there will be no more development in the area, according to Kota Damansara state assemblyman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim.
“We have decided to keep the cemetery but at the same time ensure that the surrounding will remain a green area.
Allaying fears: Dr Mohd Nasir assuring the Kota Damansara residents
that the Muslim cemetery would remain.
“Since the land still belongs to the state government, we will make sure that there is no further development at this forest reserve,” he said, referring to the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve.
Dr Mohd Nasir made this promise to a group of 50 Kota Damansara residents who had gathered at the cemetery’s main entrance yesterday to protest against the visit by Bukit Gasing state assemblyman Edward Lee and to demand that the cemetery remains there.
The newly elected DAP state assemblyman was caught in a sticky situation when he decided to conduct a site visit to the Muslim burial site.
His visit was misconstrued and had made the residents who had been fighting for the cemetery uneasy.
The group was seen at the main entrance of the cemetery as early as 9am. Some had put up banners on the fence urging the new state government to leave the cemetery alone.
Also present were representatives from Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) the Forestry Department.
“The residents wanted to know the purpose of Lee’s visit to the cemetery.
‘‘That is why they decided to gather here and find out for themselves,” said Kota Damansara Cemetery Development committee chairman Alpadzul Abu Hassan.
He said Lee had called representatives from the MBPJ, Forestry Department and also the Cemetery Development Committee to brief him on the cemetery development.
Alpadzul, who is also Section 6 residents’ association chairman, said they felt that Lee should not have come charging there to get such information and should have talked to Dr Mohd Nasir or sought details from MBPJ.
In response to the situation, Lee said it was all due to miscommunication.
“I went there to check on the environmental issue and not the cemetery.
Lee said he had received complaints from the residents living near the cemetery, voicing out their fears that the development would not stop at the cemetery.
He said as he had been involved in the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve issue for a few years, he had wanted to check on its status himself.
The cemetery, which is part of the depleting Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve, was the subject of controversy last year.
A group of residents and those who wanted to keep the green area had objected to it.
_____________________
Wednesday March 19, 2008
Attn: Brian Martin, Star Metro Editor
RE: Article ‘STORM IN A TEACUP’ by reporter SALINA KHALID on March 19, 2008
The elected representative for Bukit Gasing Edward Lee Poh Lin would like to make a correction as to the reports stated in the article mentioned above, which paints him as meddling in the affairs of the Kota Damansara community.
The erroneous 11th paragraph is as follows:
He said Lee had called representatives from the MBPJ, Forestry Department and also the Cemetery Development Committee to brief him on the cemetery development.
RE: Article ‘STORM IN A TEACUP’ by reporter SALINA KHALID on March 19, 2008
The elected representative for Bukit Gasing Edward Lee Poh Lin would like to make a correction as to the reports stated in the article mentioned above, which paints him as meddling in the affairs of the Kota Damansara community.
The erroneous 11th paragraph is as follows:
He said Lee had called representatives from the MBPJ, Forestry Department and also the Cemetery Development Committee to brief him on the cemetery development.
Your reporter quoted Mr Alpadzul Abu Hassan in this matter but failed to record if indeed Mr Lee had in fact done this and paints a picture that Mr Lee was meddling in the affairs of the Muslim Cemetery when it was clearly not the case.
Mr Lee did not request for the Forestry Department or the Cemetery Development Committee to be present.
Mr Lee was made to understand that the meeting would also be with Kota Damansara state assemblyman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim and this was done.
To put the record straight, a group of Kota Damansara residents had voiced their concern over a section of the forest that was away from the main cemetery was found being cleared and sought Mr Lee’s advice on the matter as there had been little official information available on the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve from MBPJ.
To allay the residents’ fears, Mr Lee asked the mayor, Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman for MBPJ to conduct a site visit. The mayor suggested that Town Planning Department assistant director Zain Asly will be requested to assist in briefing the concerned residents on the status of the project as MBPJ Town Planning Department director Sharipah Marhani Syed Ali was supposed to be away performing the Umrah..
However, instead of a single MBPJ officer, MBPJ Town Planning Department director Sharipah Marhani Syed Ali personally came and brought an entourage. We are perplexed as to what sparked unwarranted fears of the Kota Damansara Muslim Cemetery committee as what was intended was a quiet visit to acquaint the residents of MBPJ’s plans for the whole forest.
Mr Lee was invited by the residents as an advisor in his capacity as the All PJ Proaction Committee pro tem chairman and not as Bukit Gasing assemblyman since he has yet to be sworn in.
We urge your good paper to publish this correction.
Regards,
K.W. Mak
On behalf of Edward Lee
Mr Lee did not request for the Forestry Department or the Cemetery Development Committee to be present.
Mr Lee was made to understand that the meeting would also be with Kota Damansara state assemblyman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim and this was done.
To put the record straight, a group of Kota Damansara residents had voiced their concern over a section of the forest that was away from the main cemetery was found being cleared and sought Mr Lee’s advice on the matter as there had been little official information available on the Sungai Buloh Forest Reserve from MBPJ.
To allay the residents’ fears, Mr Lee asked the mayor, Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman for MBPJ to conduct a site visit. The mayor suggested that Town Planning Department assistant director Zain Asly will be requested to assist in briefing the concerned residents on the status of the project as MBPJ Town Planning Department director Sharipah Marhani Syed Ali was supposed to be away performing the Umrah..
However, instead of a single MBPJ officer, MBPJ Town Planning Department director Sharipah Marhani Syed Ali personally came and brought an entourage. We are perplexed as to what sparked unwarranted fears of the Kota Damansara Muslim Cemetery committee as what was intended was a quiet visit to acquaint the residents of MBPJ’s plans for the whole forest.
Mr Lee was invited by the residents as an advisor in his capacity as the All PJ Proaction Committee pro tem chairman and not as Bukit Gasing assemblyman since he has yet to be sworn in.
We urge your good paper to publish this correction.
Regards,
K.W. Mak
On behalf of Edward Lee
_____________________
The Star
Thursday March 20, 2008
Thursday March 20, 2008
Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee was invited by Kota Damansara residents to visit the area on Tuesday in his capacity as advisor and pro-tem chairman of the All PJ Pro-Action Committee.
Lee said he was invited by the group of residents who was concerned over a section of the forest that was far away from the main cemetery which was allegedly being cleared, and the residents sought his advice on the matter.
He also said it was not he who had requested for the Forestry Department and Cemetery Development Committee to be present at the site during the visit.
In a statement in response to an article published in the Star Metro under the heading “Storm in a teacup” on Wednesday, Lee said he had asked Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Roslan Sakiman to conduct a site visit to Kota Damansara. The mayor, however suggested that a senior official from the Town Planning department be present instead.
“We are perplexed as to what sparked unwarranted fears of the Kota Damansara Muslim Cemetery committee as what was intended was a quiet visit to acquaint the residents of MBPJ's plans for the whole forest,” Lee said.
1 comment:
Remember, concerning to cemetery, there are two groups involves, one opposing and one supporting, as for the Kota Damansara Cemetery Development Committee Chairman Alpadzul Abu Hassan, he's been one of the representatives directly involved with the previous ADUN approving the cemetery but without the consent of the other group who opposed the cemetery, who are directly staying very near to the cemetery (Section 8, 9 & 10), Mr. Alpadzul is staying in Section 6 which is far from the cemetery and does not directly affect his life personally. He's been proposing a mosque in Section 6, which again only profits his neighbourhood, this is not a fair decision among all the residents in Kota Damansara as a whole and hope the new government will really looked into the matter and have a fair decision for all the residents livelihood. If the previous developer belongs to the State government have conned the resident in buying the land esp. in Section 8 & 9 with promises that the forest is a gazetted forest and only a botanical garden will be there but then gives the resident a cemetery (is that fair??), why not then turned the decision back to the original. There are still many areas in Kota Damansara which are more suitable for a cemetery and slightly far away from a residential area.
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