Photo — ART CHEN/The Star
A TASK FORCE has been established to gazette 256 plots of land as green and open spaces in Kuala Lumpur. The task force comprises Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the Federal Territories Lands and Mines Office (PTGWP), and the Federal Territories Department (JWP).
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (Federal Territories), Hannah Yeoh, who announced this, said the task force will look into and overcome the technical details of each plot of land identified for gazettement.
“This is our priority and the task force will actively identify technical gaps, strengthen inter-agency coordination and ensure that all remaining sites are gazetted,” Yeoh said during a press conference held at Taman Rimba Bukit Kerinchi on Thursday (Feb 5).
“When green and open spaces are not properly gazetted, they become vulnerable to alienation and conversion for other purpose and we have to do whatever we can to protect it,” she said.
The Minister added that no specific timeframe has been given to the task force as each plot is different, though she noted they will work to gazette them as soon as possible.
For the first time, the public can view the full list of 494 gazetted green and open spaces in Kuala Lumpur through the implementation of Open Data by PTGWP.
Members of the public can visit the PTGWP portal and click on the “Myhijau” icon to view a map with the locations of these gazetted spaces.
This initiative is in response to requests from civil societies and residents’ associations raised during engagements with the Minister on Jan 20 and 21.
Yeoh further noted that the authorities are looking for the creation of more green spaces.
“For example, if there is redevelopment we encourage developers to contribute more green space. We have met with Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Kuala Lumpur recently and conveyed that we want more green space in future development applications,” she said.
