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Malay Mail learned of the project from a notice issued by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) on Nov 13 announcing the water cut to facilitate pipe relocation works to accommodate the construction of a Rebana Ubi arch, apparently, for the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim). By Pearl Lee and Darshini Kandasamy, Malay Mail
 Believe it or not, an arch is to be built at the Federal Highway. It is going to cost lots of money. Thousands of households and, no doubt, road users will be affected, and get this: no one knows who is doing it. At least that’s how it seems. This much we know: The arch will straddle the highway near the UEM and Malay College Old Boys’ Association (MCOBA) buildings at the Jalan Syed Putra stretch. Everything else is shrouded in mystery, despite all our efforts to find out: Who is building it, who approved it and, more importantly, why it is being built now and how much it will cost in the midst of a global credit crunch and Malaysians being told to be prudent in their spending. For eight hours, from 8pm today till 4am tomorrow, thousands of households in Taman Seputeh and the surrounding areas will face a water cut for preparatory work on the project. Malay Mail learned of the project from a notice issued by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) on Nov 13 announcing the water cut to facilitate pipe relocation works to accommodate the construction of a Rebana Ubi arch, apparently, for the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim). The statement, signed by Syabas corporate communications and public affairs department general manager Abdul Halem Mat Som, also stated that residents in Taman Seputeh (comprising Taman Seputeh, Desa Seputeh and Taman Bukit Seputeh), and Syed Putra areas (comprising Persiaran Syed Putra, Jalan Syed Putra, Lorong Putra Kiri and Robson Heights), as well as Sekolah Menengah (P) Cina Kuen Cheng, would be without water for eight hours. What happened next proved to be a futile exercise in trying to get the facts, Checks with several agencies over the last three days yielded virtually nothing, Jakim being the first to deny any link to the project. Jakim deputy director Mohd Noor Abd Hamid said last Friday afternoon: "I have checked with several departments and none of them know of this project". Finally, in the evening, he stated unequivocally: "This is not a project by Jakim." Syabas, when informed, later told Malay Mail to remove the reference to Jakim from its statement as it was not a Jakim project after all. Syabas still did not identify who was behind the project.  On Sunday, Syabas said a private developer was involved. Syabas’ Abdul Halem said although the project was not under Jakim, approvals still had to be obtained by the developer who, in turn, had to get the greenlight from Jakim.
Baffled, Malay Mail later contacted City Hall and was told that the project was not its. We were also told that it was the Federal Territories Ministry’s baby and that it was also partially private. City Hall works department director Siti Saffur Mansor said that as it was the weekend, she would issue an official statement on Monday, but she did clarify that City Hall had only given the developer approval to use the road. Unfortunately, Siti Saffur’s statement was not delivered yesterday as promised. City Hall’s corporate communications and public affairs department officer Zurida Hashim said late yesterday evening that she could not release the information we requested. She did not give an explanation for the media blackout. Malay Mail then contacted secretary-general of the Federal Territories Ministry Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib who said the issue of the rebana ubi arch had not come up in any discussion at the ministry.
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