File photo of the access road leading to lot 1782 and the shophouses.
KUCHING: The developer of a commercial project at Laman Bong Chin consisting of several rows of shophouses which has drawn complaints from residents in the vicinity has clarified the construction of the physical work has been carried out in accordance with approved drawings by the relevant authorities.
In a statement refuting the accusations brought against the project, the developer, Seladah Jaya Sdn Bhd, said the Land and Survey Department had reconfirmed that the State Planning Authority (SPA) had approved the construction of the monsoon drain, retaining wall and car park which was the subject of complaints.
They pointed out that the Land and Survey Department statement on its approval was published in the See Hua Daily News on Sept 6.
The statement said the news reports had painted a negative picture of the developer and had been one-sided.
The main complaint brought up against the project was that the construction of the retaining wall of a monsoon drain had narrowed the access road to the house at lot 1782.
The statement pointed out the wall actually did not encroach into the road reserve as according to the deposited development plan for lot 1782 and 1783 in 1977, the monsoon drain had actually encroached into the developer’s land (Lot 2098).
As a result it had created more space for the road reserve in front of the two houses which the residents mistakenly thought they were entitled to.
The statement revealed that the development plan for the project had been approved by the SPA and Land and Survey Department since 2006 and the Drainage and Irrigation Department had taken a lot of time to evaluate the drainage designs before approving it.
The issue was blown up when Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How’s visit to the construction site between Aug 13 and 15 was widely reported in the local press.
However, See only tried to talk to the workers who were constructing the retaining wall but never called the developer to get their side of the situation.
The developer appealed to See and any party trying to settle the dispute to approach them to get more details of the project and a better understanding of the situation.
The statement revealed that See was not the first person approached by the resident to take up her complaints.
Stampin MP Julian Tan had approached the developer over the objection to the retaining wall and the developer told Tan of their desire for a peaceful solution.
Another ‘unknown group’ had also tried to settle the dispute but no solution was reached.
The statement added that since May the developer had approached the residents in the neighbourhood in particular the one at Lot 1782 regarding the construction of the road and retaining wall last April.
During the discussions the developer had offered several proposals to make the necessary amendments to the original approval for submission to the relevant authorities.
In particular they offered to cancel the retaining wall in front of lot 1782 as the resident of that property had been at forefront in objecting to its construction.
The resident asked for time to consider the proposal but did not get back to the developer for more than three weeks, forcing the developer to continue the construction according to the original plan as they could not afford wait any longer, the statement said.
The complaints against the developer had been noted by Kuching City Council South and the Land and Survey Department and both authorities had sent their officers to the site to resolve the situation.