He said the issue of preserving the retention ponds, especially for flood mitigation purposes, would be discussed by a special committee for further action, Berita Harian reported.

“The areas around the retention ponds have to be preserved at the same capacity, taking into consideration the conditions set by the irrigation and drainage department.

“This issue to preserve the retention areas and their capacity was discussed three months ago,” he was quoted as saying by the Malay daily.

Shahidan also gave an assurance that the city centre would have green areas, including sufficient water retention ponds, in line with the growth of the city.

“There was development around one retention pond and the developer agreed not to disturb the site.

“We ensured that the capacity of the retention pond was not affected while development went on,” he said.

He also urged anyone with information on retention ponds that had been affected by any development project to inform him so that the authorities could find a solution.

“I myself want to see more retention ponds preserved to overcome the flood problem in the city,” he said.

He added that not all public land in the city belonged to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) as some were under the lands and mines department.

“We will not do anything that will be detrimental to the residents, which means we will not develop water retention pond areas,” he said, adding that there are plans to plant one million trees in Kuala Lumpur.

Last month, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh brought to light how six retention ponds earmarked for flood prevention in Kuala Lumpur had been alienated for development.

She said the 2019 Auditor-General’s Report revealed that the mayor had approved 943 development projects from 2015 to 2020 which were not in line with the KL City Plan 2020.

It was also reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had commenced investigations into claims that the water retention ponds in Kuala Lumpur had been converted into development sites.