EVERY TIME DEVELOPMENT plans are submitted to the authorities for consideration and approval, there are areas designated as kawasan lapang (open space) in the form of playgrounds, parks, buffer zones between power sub-stations and houses, large tracts of land between monsoon drains and roads.

After development is completed, such land is handed to the state authorities which
subsequently gazettes them as "recreational", "road reserve" and the like.

But if they are not gazetted, they remain, on record as kawasan lapang.

So, when the area in Section 14 in Petaling Jaya bordering the community hall along Jalan 222 was developed in the seventies, an area measuring less than quarter of a hectare was left empty, as a buffer between the factories and nearby housing estate.

It still remains as kawasan lapang on the PJ Local Plan and is marked as Lot PT3, Jalan 14/64.

When I visited the area on Wednesday, I discovered that there is no access road to this lot and there's a 15m drop from the row of single-storey terraced houses.

There's a factory, complete with a sliproad for lorries and a fence to keep out trespassers and for almost 40 years, it was a buffer between residential buildings and the factories.

On Tuesday, the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) caused to publish two documents in which there are proposals to amend the Local Plan.

The proposals include converting Lot PT3 from kawasan lapang to perumahaan (housing). But the proposals do not contain the reasons for such a conversion and it is unfathomable to believe that MPPJ wants to build a house or a bungalow there for its president.

I re-visited the area on Thursday and talked to the residents who are in the dark on the possibility of a bungalow coming up in front of their houses. They are not aware of the Local Plan, the amendments or their right to object to any change in the land use.

No one should blame them. They are ordinary people minding their own business, and believing that the buffer zone will exist in perpetuity.

But they also refuse to believe that the MPPJ would allow someone to develop the land which has been idle for more than 30 years.

In my Wednesday column three weeks ago, I had reason to say that some politicians have hijacked Celcom's "See football in everything" slogan and coined a new phrase "See money in everything".

I wrote: "This could perhaps be the reason why almost everyone is eyeing empty pieces of land, playing fields and green lungs, hoping to make a quick buck.

"Land earmarked for a school and a Tenaga sub-station was alienated to a developer in Petaling Jaya; the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, aided and abetted by the Selangor government, made futile efforts to take over a playing field, and large tracts around the Bukit Cahaya Agricultural Park in Shah Alam have been shaven bare.

"With little or no regard for the environment, and with impunity, land is 'grabbed' in the name of development and given to highly-connected individuals and
corporations at bargain prices."

Any ordinary thinking and reasonable man has the right to assume that Lot PT3 is going to be converted to residential land and then alienated or sold at a nominal price to some influential person, who is in turn going to make a quick buck by selling it (complete with conversion and development approval) to some towkay who wants to put up a mansion. (The records will show that this has been done in Shah Alam).

Why else is the need to change the status of the land use on land which has been zoned as kawasan lapang all this while?

The proposed amendments were not penned and approved by one man, but the whole MPPJ endorsed them before they were published.

So, did our councillors ask for reasons for the conversion? Did they ever foresee the
destruction of the buffer zone? Did our councillors, some of whom are wakil rakyat, consult people living in the area before they gave their consent?

What about Agenda 21 which requires the council to consult the people and the business community before approving projects?

So, the rules governing consultation have been thrown out of the window and to use the words of Bangsar Business Council president Ronald Quay, they have formulated the a new set of laws to serve their own purposes.

Quay in a recent e-mail to this scribe said: "As the president, I have to deal with the fellows from DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall)  and it is indeed frustrating (that) they have become a law unto themselves. "

What are the councillors doing when such proposals come up for discussion?
Nothing -- according to fellow journalists who have covered their full council meetings.

The meetings, says colleague Maria J. Dass, are boring. "The items are tabled by the president and there's little discussion. Most of the time, everyone agrees with what is in front of them."

Surprised? You should not be, because these appointed councillors and are not
accountable to the people but their respective "Godfathers" who have put them there.

Coming back to the issue of Lot PT3; why is there a need to convert its status? You can't possibly use the excuse of building low-cost flats in such a small piece of land.

Has someone already made an application for that land or has that land been already alienated and the council is just carrying out the formalities to legalise the land grab?

Your guess is good as mine, but how do we put an end to all this nefarious activities of a select few who are paying little heed to the interests of the community and its people?

By the way, other proposed amendments include changing the land use of Padang Merbok in Petaling Jaya to commercial. This means a cluster of condominiums can be built and Jalan 5/24 which is being upgraded as a link road between the two sides of Bukit Gasing, would result in a busy thoroughfare.

You can buy the complete set of documents and the related proposals for RM20 at the MPPJ office. It makes interesting reading as to what extent some people go to enhance their wealth.