I REFER to Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s reply (”Upgrading for safety and comfort” — NST, Jan 28) on the changes being made to the trails of Bukit Kiara.

I am disgusted that City Hall can pretend that the widening of the trail by them did not result in the felling of trees and erosion.

What used to be a two-foot wide trail is now practically a highway where eight horses can fit through abreast.

How can that be achieved without the felling of many trees for the whole length of the track?

I was walking along one of the trails on Saturday and my path was blocked by four trees that had been felled by a landslide. In barely a few weeks after the track-widening, landslides are occurring.

With City Hall using crude methods to widen the trails, which leaves trees standing on the edge of the terrace with their roots exposed, landslides are inevitable in the future, especially when the rainy season comes.

City Hall claims that the tracks have been used by the riders of the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Country Resort.

Yes, I am sure riders have been using the tracks.

However, City Hall is also widening the bikers and joggers trails, which bikers and joggers crafted and maintained with minimal ecological impact for communal use. In essence, City Hall is destroying these communal trails to build a new track for horse riders.

These widening of trails should have been done with care to minimise any adverse effect on the ecological system of that area.

By leaving it to bulldozers and excavators to widen the tracks without any thought or care about the adverse impact it may have on the environment, City Hall is not only endangering hundreds of people who use the trails but are also destroying a green lung.

BEATRICE GOH, Subang Jaya

Source: NST – February 1, 2008