Dear Editor, EVERY day, we see hills sur rounding Kuala Lumpur disap pearing due to the development of skyscrapers.

In spite of the echoes of Malaysia Boleh, mega projects are undertaken at the expense of our green belts. The balance of greenery in Kuala Lumpur is no longer equal.

There are numerous tree- planting programmes and campaigns implemented, but in the end, those trees are uprooted to give way to condos, luxury apartments and other exclusive projects.

Take a flight from KLIA and prepare to be surprised at the bird’s-eye view. Only a few trees and shrubs dot the landscape. Everything else, including the hills, are barren. The only pockets of jungle that can be seen are concrete ones.

It is time that those in charge of town planning give way to environmental experts to make Kuala Lumpur a greener place by looking into the flow of rivers, catchment areas, rain shadow areas and road building to ease traffic congestion.

We hear of State leaders and teams going for study tours overseas to learn more about town planning.

But when they come back, it is all forgotten, with just a re port of those visits submitted to the authorities without physical application. It is a waste of tax payers’ money for us to foot the bill for these rombongan (entourage).

Deaf ears have been turned on residents’ complaints concerning ecological problems in Bukit Gasing, Bukit Kiara, Sungai Bu loh, Templer’s Park and Melawati.

We are making a mistake by allowing residential areas to be commercialised.
These areas are being polluted with unhealthy activities such as in Bangsar and Jalan Universiti where outlets are given the licence to operate without taking into account the resid ents’ comfort.

Who is being held responsible for the destruction of the green belts and what can we do about it? Is there a lack of environ mental experts in the local authorities? Who is making sure that nature is not being raped by unskilled town planners for the sake of greedy developers who do not care for the en vironment? Who will do a study on how much waste will be pro duced by these developments?

I shudder to think of the state Malaysia will be in when 2020 rolls around.

Those in power must remember that it is their duty to give us a nation that will meet all our basic needs such as clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, good roads to travel on, good schools to study in, good hospitals to be treated in and equality among the people.

If the authorities pay attention to these issues, then by 2020, we will have no such fears.

Do the spot checks and rectify these problems to prevent dis asters.
We don’t want the next generation suffering from our mis takes.

William S. Thomas
Shah Alam

Source: Malay Mail – January 30, 2008