KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Threatened with a lawsuit, DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok said today she is prepared to go to court for calling Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor a “minister for developers”.
The Seputeh MP maintained that her remark, first made in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, was not defamatory as she was only speaking out for residents in her constituency opposed to the construction of more high-density high-rise developments in the city without their feedback.
“I stand by my statement in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday and I am prepared to face the Federal Territories Minister in Court,” she said in a statement.
She added that if Tengku Adnan went ahead with his lawsuit, she will “invite many Kuala Lumpur residents to the court” to support her statement, which she insisted was a reflection of their frustration with the minister whom they saw as being friendlier to developers than residents.
Kok also said the minister’s lawsuit, if it happens, will provide a chance for residents to air their objections to the property development projects in court.
“If this statement causes me to be sued by the Minister, it will open up avenues for resident associations and also other MPs in Kuala Lumpur to present our cases in court — which is that City Hall (DBKL) has ignored objection to some high density projects,” she said.
The Opposition MP claimed that the minister and DBKL were not following the zoning regulations set under the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 — which has yet to be gazetted — but were instead approving many high-density projects on land where development was not supposed to take place.
“The residents have lost plenty of land that was actually supposed to be used as open spaces and public utility sites,” she said.
She added that the residents could then use the opportunity to prove their lives had been impacted by such “overdevelopment”.
Kok and Tengku Adnan started trading barbs following media reports earlier this month highlighting a proposed five-block, 35-floor, 1,174-unit high-density condominium in Taman Desa that alarmed the neighbourhood residents’ association on the post-development traffic conditions.
Tengku Adnan had lashed out at Kok, calling her “crazy” for opposing the government’s residential property project that would have provided affordable housing in her constituency.
– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/teresa-kok-braces-for-lawsuit-over-minister-for-developers-remark#sthash.XmzG6VfK.dpuf