SHAH ALAM, 14 Nov: Decisions regarding the condominium project in front of Batu Caves will be made after thorough inspection to prevent any negative effects to the rakyat and the Selangor Government.
Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that this approach is different from the Umno-BN Federal Government that is now promising to cancel the project although it was approved by the previous Umno-BN Selangor government.
He said that every project cancellation has to be done professionally, transparently and responsibly by following procedures to avoid negative consequences to the state.
It is being understood that should the project be cancelled without following procedures, the State Government will have to compensate the project developer, Dolomite Park Avenue.
“We are committed in fixing any carelessness and mistakes which had been made by the Umno-BN government before this.”
“However, this has to be done in order and in accordance with policies of the state government which is fair and just,” he said in a press conference after chairing the Exco meeting here, today.
Recently, the English language newspaper, The Sun, had exposed the approval of the 29 storey condominium project by the Selayang Municipal Council during the Umno-BN governance in 2007.
At the Batu Caves Deepavali celebrations last night, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had declared that Umno-BN will cancel the project should they return to govern Selangor.
In Abdul Khalid’s reply to Najib’s announcement, he said that the Umno president was not professional and that it was a cheap publicity stunt.
“Najib’s actions may bring about negative outcomes to the integrity and respectable administration because any cancellation to the project should be done according to procedure,” he added.
Simultaneously, Abdul Khalid has announced the appointment of Datuk N. Sadasivan as chairman of the Independent Taskforce to study the aforementioned project’s approval.
Abdul Khalid said that Sadasivan, who was the former Head of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) will be assisted by a group of professionals to work freely in the taskforce.
“Among taskforce’s scope of duties is to re-investigate all development projects which have been planned and carried out at Batu Caves taking several aspects into consideration such as, the people’s welfare, the Hindu community’s priorities and the law,” he continued.