RAWANG residents have been waiting in vain for a dual carriageway connecting the town to Bandar Country Homes.

With the dual carriageway not built, it has affected more than 100,000 residents in many areas travelling from this part of the township to the city.

Residents of townships like Kota Emerald, Bandar Country Homes, Kampung Sungai Bakau, Kampung Sungai Bakau Tambahan, Bandar Tasik Puteri, Taman Velox, Taman Desa Mas, Batu Arang, Puteri Heights, Desa Mutiara, Casa Ria, Saujana Rawang and Kota Bidari have to brave themselves for the massive traffic jam every day and some take three hours to reach work in spite of leaving the house as early as 6am.

In the evenings, it is the same when the traffic jam starts after 5pm and will continue up to 9pm, especially when it floods.

In recent years, Rawang residents have heard different views from former leaders and current leaders but all they want is for the dual carriageway to be built.

Bandar Country Homes Residents Association chairman Soong Beng Khoon said residents were fed up of excuses given by the politicians while some had even moved out to other areas in Petaling Jaya and Damansara.

“The work on the dual carriageway was supposed to start in 2007 under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

“We want the authorities and the politicians to stop politicising the issue and tell us, once and for all, when the matter will be laid to rest. Don’t give us false hope and empty promises.

“Rawang residents want to know when the dual carriageway will be ready. And, if the project has been cancelled, tell us the truth, that’s all,’’ he said.

Bandar Country Homes resident Madhu Marimuthu said residents in the surrounding area had to deal with two or three hour jams each time it rained as Jalan Sungai Bakau-Batang Berjuntai from Rawang town to Bandar Country Homes often floods due to the river nearby.

“The dual carriageway is like an unsolved mystery with politicians pointing fingers at each other over the problem. I hope the relevant parties will shed some light on the issue,’’ he said.

Nix Chung, who lives in Templer’s Park, has to travel to his office in the Rawang Integrated Industrial Park daily and has never failed to encounter a traffic jam.

According to Chung, the widening of Jalan Sungai Bakau-Bandar Country Homes is 26 years overdue and the population is increasing in the surrounding townships heading towards Bandar Tasik Puteri.

Chia Hock Chye, 46, who has lived in Bandar Country Homes for the last 14 years and travels to work in Kuala Lumpur, said many of his neighbours had already moved out as they could not bear to face the jams.

Daniel Soo, 50, who also lives in Bandar Country Homes, said he had worked in Nilai for the last 12 years and often reached home after 10pm.

“I know that I will get caught in the traffic jam if I come home early, So, I leave my office at about 9pm to avoid it,’’ he said.

Selayang MP WIlliam Leong explained that the dual carriageway was supposed to be built in two stages under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

The first stage is from the Rawang toll to Rawang town while the second stage is from the Rawang toll to Bandar Tasik Puteri, with a total cost of RM68mil when the project was first proposed in the early 1990s.

“The project was supposed to start in July last year and I have brought up the matter in Parliament and was told that they still needed between RM150 and RM180mil as the costs involved have increased over the years.

“Rawang residents are suffering the jams daily and the dual carriageway project is long overdue,’’ he said.

In Malaysia, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act 1976 and its 1995 and 2001 ammendments act as the legislative mandate given to the planning authorities at various levels of government to plan and control the country's development agenda. In terms of public participation, the TCP Act 1976 requires exhibitiion, publication and other forms of participation to be done for the public in relation to the preparation and adoption of the Structure Plan [s.10(5)] and Local Plan [s. 13(3)]. Nonetheless, public participation is limited to submitting objections and comments after the planning authorities have prepared the draftdevelopment plans. The planning authorities are usually able todisregard the public objections and comments by forwarding several argumentsand justifications. According to Lee et al. (2002), added to the fact that most objections are personal in nature (typically for higher potential value of their property), it is not suprising that the rate of success of such objections is very low.

As the TCP Act 1976 requires some form of public participation in the preparation and adoption of the Structure Plan and LocalPlan, efforts and expenditures have been made for the exhibitions and publications of the draft development plans. Still, public participation is relatively poor in comparison to the number of visitors received. It is calculated from Table 1 that on average, only 11 submissions were received from the public per plan.

To further encourage public participation, several drafts of development plans in Malaysia have been published on the website (Table 2). The public could also provide comments online, and those who did were invited to attend meetings organized by the authorities (Jawatankuasa Bantahan Awam). Meanwhile feedback forms were also displayed in the regular exhibitions.

Local Agenda 21 also influences the practice of public participation in Malaysia. Some of the central themes of Local Agenda 21 are the concept of good governance facilitated by consulatative process and access to information. Several municipal and district councils in Malaysia have adopted Local Agenda 21 including Miri, Petaling Jaya, Kuantan and Kerian. The state of Selangor has also adopted the Local Agenda 21 through the state planning office initiatives.

Salam

This time I'll share about how can we participate in our country's development.

INTRODUCTION
National Physical Plan (NPP) is a long term strategic plan for the period until 2020, that contains written statement formulating strategic policies for the purpose of determining the general directions and trends of the physical development and conservation of Peninsular Malaysia, accompanied by indicative plans. NPP has been prepared under the provision of Section 6B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172).

NPP has been approved by the Cabinet on the 20th April 2005 and by the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC), chaired by the Prime Minister, on the 26th April 2005.

This approval means that from now on the NPP is to be the national physical planning guideline and to be implemented by all the states in Peninsular Malaysia, and consequently :

FUNCTION

	a) Strengthening national planning by providing a spatial dimension to national economic policies
	b) Coordinating sectoral agencies by providing the spatial expression to sectoral policies
	c) Providing the framework for regional, state and local planning
	d) Providing physical planning policies

GOAL

TO CREATE AN EFFICIENT, EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE NATIONAL SPATIAL FRAMEWORK TO GUIDE THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY TOWARDS ACHIEVING A COMPETITIVE DEVELOPED NATION STATUS BY 2020

OBJECTIVE

	To rationalise national spatial planning for economic efficiency and global competitiveness.
	To optimise utilisation of land and natural resources for sustainable development.
	To promote balanced regional development for national unity.
	To secure spatial and environmental quality and diversity for a high quality of life.

What a boring night...huh
So guys, this time I think I'm gonna share with you another useful information. For those (finished SPM, STPM or Matriculation) who interested to pursue your study in Urban and Regional Planning, this is the most suitable book for you to have it. I bought this book before I continue my study at USM and undoubtedly, it is really helpful especially when you will be exposed to working environment during Industrial Training.

This book divided into 7 chapters. First chapter is about the History and Introduction of the field. Then, second chapter is about Qualification and Related institution. The author will be explain to you about the conditions and qualification to continue study in URP. He also will brief about scholarship, loan education and how to apply it.



Third chapter is about Career Opportunities. In this chapter, the author just mention about the opportunities offered from the government sector instead of private sector. So, I think I should tell to readers again that this book only FOCUS on career as town planner in government sector. It is true, there a lot of opportunities in private sector and right now, lot of career agencies will help us to find available post as Planner in private sector.



Next, fourth chapter is about the Real Duty as town planner. Fifth, is about Related Organization in this field. 6ixth chapter is about Additional Information such as prominent person, professional membership, personality that you should have, related Act, Development Plan, Planning Guidelines and Dasar Perbandaran Negara.

Last chapter, the author will explain about the Challenges that you will face as Town Planner.
Wallahualam...

I just wanna wish you all Happy New Year 2009! Hopefully, we can start our new chapter in our life with prosperity and more success to come. To my beloved Malaysia, I pray that 2009 will be a better year for us after all of sort problems and dilemmas such as political conflicts, natural disaster (landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa) and also economic recession problem. All Malaysian should play pivotal role to bring back glimmer of hopes for 2009.



Indeed, 2008 gave me lot of new experiences in my life and I think now I want to add some resolutions for this year. Its true, I still have a lot to achieve in my life and I promised to myself to improve all my weakness and unintentional mistakes during 2008. Year after year, time after time, we keep older and now I'm unofficially 22. Somehow I wonder, how fast time is it? Now, I 'm in my last year at USM. Three years come and go. Wow. Perhaps, I should start enjoy all my 'sisa-sisa hidup di USM' before graduate on forthcoming August.

Insya-Allah...Amin

Ah-ha,
Last but not least, to my MUFC, all the best for 2009. If we can do DOUBLE (BPL Champion and UCL Champion) last year, why not this year we repeat the glorious TREBLE which is last time we won it on season 1998-1999. It was ten years ago and now it is the perfect time to achieve it back! Sorry guys, but I just can't push away my obsession and fanaticism towards MUFC. It is something inevitable. Everybody have their own interest and obsession right?. Hehehe. Win, draw or lose...I'm UNITED.