Anwar’s political secretary Azman Abidin told a press conference at Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) headquarters here that the structure plan was approved on Oct 4 while the gazette was published on Oct 19.

He said this was the third plan to replace the 2020 Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan, which was published in 2004.

“According to the provisions of the Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 (Act 267), development plans (structural and local plans) must be prepared for specific planning periods.

“If the period of use of these development plans has expired, the development plans must be reviewed, either for improvements or replacements,” he said.

Azman said there were more than 1,000 objections from various NGOs regarding KLSP2040 and the government had gone through them and included some of the recommendations in the final plan.

However, he did not elaborate on the number or details of the objections accepted and incorporated into the final plan.

“Most of the objections were related to land, where some were unhappy with (the prospect of) having apartments (constructed) beside their residences.”

Previously, the NGO Save Kuala Lumpur had urged Anwar not to approve the KLSP2040 until all due process had been completed by DBKL, warning against gazetting the document “prematurely”.

The group had claimed that DBKL did not address the feedback and objections submitted by many residents’ groups.

The first Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan was gazetted in 1984, and the second plan was announced in 2004 and is known as the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020. In January 2018, DBKL commenced studies for the KLSP2040.