I am a resident of Section 19, Petaling Jaya. There is a commercial development near to our houses and adjoining Jalan 19/30.

We had numerous meetings with Majlis Bandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) over the last eleven months to enquire about the development and also to ensure that the developer complies with the laws and regulations governing the development.

However, at every meeting, we were disappointed because the developer and MPPJ somehow keep avoiding the issues that we brought up. At all the meetings, we requested for the latest approved plans and drawings to no avail.

Why is MBPJ avoiding Section 19 house owners?

Then on March 12, after our complaints to the state exco, we were given a chance to bring up our issues at a ‘Mampan' (sustainable development) meeting. We were a bit hopeful as there were many councillors there to here our complaints and requests.

Among the major issues, we wanted to know why was a portion of the land adjoining Jalan 19/30, which was gazetted as residential, been converted into a commercial property.

We wanted to know when the project was approved (sandwiched between Jalan 19/30, SS2/72, and Ken 3 Condominium).

We also wanted to know why the residents were not consulted on the project before the approval was given. We highlighted to the councillors that our request for the latest approved plans and drawings were ignored despite our reminders at every meeting.

We left the meeting with some hope that the councillors will exert their powers to ensure the developer and/or MPPJ will be transparent and comply with our legitimate requests.

However, two months (and counting) have passed and we still have not got any answers from MBPJ.

Is the Selangor government a responsible state government as we were made to believe?

I hope MBPJ will not let the residents down. MBPJ must stand-up and protect the residents' rights and rectify any illegal procedure or projects.