KUALA LUMPUR: Once publicly available information on developments including project details and planning permissions must be accessible to the masses again, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has been told.
The details which used to be available on the ministry's One Stop Centre (OSC) 3.0 Plus Online website are now only accessible to "operational users".
These "operational users" include project owners, developers, consultants, local councils, and state and federal agencies.
Two NGOs, the Kuala Lumpur Residents Action for Sustainable Development Association and Save Kuala Lumpur say this is regressive as the OSC's predecessor allowed the public to view such details.
"Residents should not have to rely on newspaper announcements to stay informed," said Save Kuala Lumpur member Peter Leong.
"Access to OSC should empower residents with timely and accurate information, fostering a more engaged and informed community," he told the New Straits Times.
Leong said the lack of access for the public was a "significant barrier" to transparency.
"It provides no visibility of project details and in-process status to residents associations and other organisations concerned with the propriety and legality of development projects."
He said they wanted the Housing and Local Government Ministry to re-open public access to real-time planning permission information.
Leong said they hope that the right to information of public interest will be reinstated.
He said Kepong member of Parliament Lim Lip Eng raised the issue in the Dewan Rakyat and was informed that public access to the site was discontinued in December 2020.
"But we have evidence to show that in 2022, information was still being updated in the old system which was accessible to the public without a user account or logging in."
Save Kuala Lumpur chairman Datuk Mumtaz Ali said the OSC allows the public to view details on infrastructure planning, amalgamation, a developer's details, and changes in density from low to high.
He said such information should be made available to the public.
"The old OSC provided us a window into certain key procedural obligations of relevant agencies that are not consistently adhered to."
He cited the example of Rule 7 on public inquiries for deviations from gazetted land use zonings/intensities and land conversions, amalgamations, re-alienations, and associated public purpose reserve revocations.
"Without timely information, they may miss the opportunity to challenge the project, impacting their right to protect their residential areas.
"The developers, who move on after completing their projects, are not affected by these issues compared to the residents who will live in the area."
He said access to information would help civil society ensure checks and balances for any development.