Developer of abandoned project in SS2 told to clean up pond

DEVELOPERS of a stalled development project next to Damansara Bistari flats in SS2, Petaling Jaya, have been asked to clean up the site.Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin said the approval plans submitted by the developers would not be processed until the site was cleaned up.“The site has been there for more than three years and has changed hands twice. The current developer is hoping to develop a 42-storey office block. Their application will not be processed until they clean up the place,” she said.She said this during a visit to the site, which has now become a pond that is about 1.8m deep and is filled with algae.Also present were Petaling Jaya councillor Lee Suet Sen and several Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) officers.Lee had received complaints from worried residents of the Damansara Bistari flats.Chairman of the flats, Abdul Samad Abdul Rashid, said the site was too close for comfort.“There is no hoarding and our children could fall into the pond,” he said.Another resident, Shaari Osman, 59, said they had to put up with the foul-smelling pond each morning while praying at the surau, located in front of the pond.Abdul Samad said he had lodged a complaint with the developer twice but no action had been taken.Lee said a notice had already been issued to the developer in April but they had failed to act on it.“It was a 14-day notice and MBPJ has conducted several tests for Aedesmosquitoes and cleaned up the rubbish in the pond but the developer has to be responsible for it,” he said.During the visit, Yeo also visited a collapsed embankment next to the flats that had not been fixed.The drain collapsed last year and the Drainage and Irrigation Dep­artment (DID) had called for tenders three months ago.“However, the project has not been awarded to any contractor. I hope the DID can speed up the process,” she said.