Chor orders all construction works at Bukit Kiara stopped

KUALA LUMPUR: Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung has issued a stop work order of all construction works in Bukit Kiara until further notice.

He announced the stop work order after he, his officers and representatives from the National Landscape Department held a meeting with concerned members of the public and non-governmental organisations Tuesday morning.

“Although 80% of the fencing work is complete and much damage has been done, we will work from now onwards with Friends of Bukit Kiara to preserve as well as to repair the damage.

“More public engagement sessions would be held related to the development of Bukit Kiara in our effort to make the hills a big-scale public park over the next 25 years,” he said.

He added that part of the park had been leased to two large corporations and the leases had to be resolved before the park could be gazetted.

Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was also present at the meeting Tuesday as a concerned resident in the neighbourhood.

In October last year, the National Landscape Department started putting up a 3.5m high fence along a 4.7km stretch, as part of an upgrading project to demarcate the park and increase security for visitors.

The construction caused an estimated 3,000 mature trees to be felled and some trails damaged, among others.

The massive earthworks are also causing harm to the pristine water body in the heart of the park and all the points downstream.

Non-governmental organisation like Friends of Bukit Kiara, Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Trails Association of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and Global Environment Centre have been trying to save and preserve the park in the most natural way possible.

Selangor Malaysian Nature Society chairman Henry Goh had said they wanted construction work to stop immediately and the park to be gazetted as a green lung.

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