Construction works put Kepong park visitors’ lives at risk

KUALA LUMPUR (June 6): Concerns have been raised over the safety of Taman Metropolitan Kepong users because of two on-going high-rise residential projects located on the edge of the park’s jogging track.

“Objects could fall down from the construction site onto the jogging track. Similarly, in future, when the buildings are occupied, there may be stray objects that could fall into the park area,” said Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng during a visit to the park today. He cited an incident where a boy was killed by a falling object at a flat in Brickfields.

The two projects lying on the edge of the park are The Henge by Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd and Mizumi Residences by Wawasan Metro Bina Sdn Bhd.

According to Lim, although the sites of these two projects were gazetted as green space, the lands were approved for the development of the two condominium projects in 2015.

“No matter what reason the previous government has for de-gazetting the land for private development, the building structures are up now and we are asking the developers to come up with safety measures (to protect park users),”said Lim.

Also present during the visit was Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) executive director of planning Datuk Najib Mohd.

Najib said both developers have been told to submit the safety measures they plan to carry out, to be submitted before Hari Raya and the instalment has to be done right after the festive break.

“We can see that there are catch nets around the buildings but more things need to be done to ensure the safety of the park users because this is a public park with many joggers. We are requesting an overhang of two meters to prevent falling objects from injuring park users,” explained Najib.

The Henge is expected to be completed by September while the RUMAWIP component of the project, KepongMas, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year.

Mizumi Kepong will be completed by November 2020.

“Last week I have sent a request for a stop work order to be issued to the two developers pending the safety measures,” Lim noted.

Meanwhile, Taman Metropolitan Kepong’s main open air car park has been closed as to too many heavy vehicles are using it and may pose a public safety hazard.

As an alternative, many users are parking their cars at the joggers’ entrance along Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 14, which is in a deplorable condition.

“The access road is part of the Mizumi Residences’ construction land and the developer has promised to upgrade the access road as well as the entrance for joggers and cyclists. They do not need to wait the project to be completed to upgrade the road. They can and should be doing it now,” Lim noted.

The request was answered by Najib on the spot by instructing the developer to carry out the upgrading work immediately and that the work should be completed a month from now.

In regards to the lack of car parking facilities, which is also causing traffic issues along Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 14, a seven-storey free carpark will be built on the currently closed main carpark of the park.

Melati Ehsan Group of Companies is building the carpark and according to its project director Leong Chee Kian, construction work began in April and will be completed in 24 months.