PETALING JAYA (August 21): In new developments on the Highland Towers site, the proposed plan is to build 50 bungalows on 8ha of land around the site, turning the current location of the old towers into the recreational park that Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin spoke of on Aug 19. 

The Star reports that Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) president Abdul Hamid Abdul Hussain said the council’s committee for Highland Towers redevelopment had decided the site was not suitable for high-rise development.

“A private developer owns 50 plots of bungalow land around the location of the towers. The developer will buy the land where the two remaining towers stand, demolish them and then redevelop the place into a recreational park,” he said.

One of the three blocks of the Highland Towers collapsed on Dec 11, 1993, killing 48 people.

“The Insolvency Department hopes to identify the remaining owners of the 27 units at Highland Towers before any redevelopment can take place,” he said.

The proposal had been presented to the special committee.

Initial plans had been to develop a housing project at the site, for the B40 (bottom 40% household income) group.

The daily quoted Taman Sri Ukay, Ampang resident Dion Sharil Isham who considered MPAJ’s proposal as good news for Taman Sri Ukay and Hillview residents.

“We were all shocked and disappointed by Zuraida’s previous decision to build flats at the Highland Towers site.

“The hill was deemed unsafe and unstable, which caused the collapse of one of the Highland Towers (in 1993) in the first place.”

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