Can you and I buy land from DBKL? By R Nadeswaran

Malaysiakini : COMMENT | If I want to purchase a piece of land from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), what steps do I need to follow?

Can I go to the reception counter and request an application form? But before that, will it provide a list of land available for sale? Is a list of available plots displayed on the notice boards or the website?

The answer is “no”, but is such information conveyed only to a select few, mainly developers and selected titled individuals? Doesn’t Joe Public get equal opportunities to buy state land?

Under these circumstances, will land designated for public amenities, such as police stations, fire stations, or schools, end up in private hands.  Despite having a large communications team, DBKL will never attempt to provide answers. Internally, such details will be classified as “sulit” (confidential), and even asking for more information could constitute a breach of the Official Secrets Act.

In 2004, the developers of Effingham Estate (now Bandar Utama) surrendered six parcels of land intended for public amenities, but all of them ultimately ended up in private hands.

However, more shocking was that the land designated for a cemetery ultimately fell into the hands of a developer. I then wrote: “First, they pinched land from the poor. Then they pilfered playgrounds from children. Now, they are even stealing from the dead!

“One administration handed over land acquired for a cemetery to a private developer. The succeeding administration destroyed a forest reserve to replace the land that had been stolen.” Those were the bad old days of the BN government, which saw itself as “we can do no wrong”, defying any authority and breaching the statutes.

But even with the change in government and the Madani administration in charge, little has changed. Nevertheless, the questions to DBKL must be recorded not for posterity but to be raised when the prime minister or members of his cabinet and party claim, “We are open and transparent.”

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

BlackGuppy0377 : The corruption machinery in Malaysia is so bloody efficient coupled with the entitlement mentality and we have a perfect environment for all the little napoleons running around getting richer and richer at the expense of the common folks not to mention the environment.

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