PARLIAMENT: OVER 2,300 HECTARES OF OPEN SPACES IN KL DESIGNATED AS GREEN AREAS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- A total of 2,393.79 hectares of open spaces in the federal capital have been designated as green areas to date, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

She said of this total, 977.55 hectares have been gazetted, while another 1,416.24 hectares of potential areas will be and are currently undergoing the gazetting process.

“The Bukit Kiara Federal Park, Bukit Kerinchi Recreational Park, Kepong Metropolitan Park, Pudu Ulu Recreational Park and Titiwangsa Lake Garden are among the open and recreational spaces in Kuala Lumpur that have been gazetted for public use,” she said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She was responding to a supplementary question from P. Prabakaran (PH-Batu) regarding public parks and forest reserves in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the strategies of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in achieving the ratio of 20 square metres of green space per resident.

Dr Zaliha said that 68.26 hectares of green areas in the federal capital have been gazetted as forest reserves, including the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, Bukit Sungai Puteh Forest Reserve, Bukit Sungai Besi Forest Reserve and the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve (Extension).

“These gazetted areas cannot be used for any mixed development activities or residential purposes,” she said.

Dr Zaliha also said that every proposed development in Kuala Lumpur must comply with DBKL’s expressed conditions, which include dedicating 10 per cent of the development area as open space.

She added that this requirement would double the existing recreational areas while maintaining the forest reserves throughout Kuala Lumpur by 2040.

-- BERNAMA