KOTA KINABALU: The proposed 13-storey condominium project at Jalan Bukit Bendera, Signal Hill went through the proper procedures before the final approval was given to the developer, said Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir.
The 19-unit condominium project has been evaluated by the technical committees representing the various government agencies, Abidin said in a statement here yesterday.
Abidin said the Development Plan (DP) approval for the project is consistent with the rezoning approval by the Central Town and Country Board in 1994, which is from Low Density Residential Zone to Medium Density Residential Zone.
He said the approval of the said DP had been approved twice and what the City Hall did was only to re-validate what has already been approved, and all the procedures were adhered to.
Other plans which include the building plan and major engineering plans were also approved accordingly, he said.
The City Hall has not given permission to the developer to start actual construction work, but has granted it approval to carry out site preparation and mitigation works within the project site, which is on relatively flat land, he added.
Engineering Department director Lee Tet Fon, who inspected the site early this week, confirmed that site preparation and mitigation works are being carried out based on the approved plans.
At the same time, Lee said the developer is allowed to carry out pile testing using bored pile foundations that would have minimal noise and vibration compared to conventional driven piles.
Test piles are usually allowed to be completed first to enable full load tests to be carried out on site to confirm the design pile capacity is met, as stated in the approved structural plans.
According to Lee, the developer has given an assurance that all necessary prevention and mitigation works would be completed first, before the actual construction of the building foundation commences.
Recently, a group of residents of Signal Hill asked the Kota Kinabalu City Hall to show to them the approved development plan of the condominium project next to their houses.
Their spokesperson, Ratna Seri Arif, said the developer of the condominium project had put up a sign, brought in heavy equipment and started work on the site and yet the mayor had not written to them to explain what was happening in their backyard for the past two months.
Ratna questioned how it was possible that a 13-storey building had got an approval to be built right next to their houses.