I WORK at Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur. On my journey to the office, I pass through a housing area in Damansara. I choose the route because there’s less traffic and the surroundings are peaceful and beautiful.

There are decade-old trees on a small hill in this housing area. One can feel the breeze and tranquillity upon entering the area, compared with the busy Sprint Highway nearby. At times, I can see families of monkeys (adult and babies) sitting on trees or on the roadside.

In the evening, residents jog around the area, and one old gentleman enjoys nature on his wheelchair.

Recently, however, I witnessed some-thing horrible. Excavators turned up on top of the hill and started to clear the land and fell the trees. The green lung that was once a nice place to be in is no longer there. When it rained, muddy water flowed down the hill and flooded the drains. From that day on, I have not seen the families of monkeys in the area. One wonders where they went?

I am just a visitor to this place, but my heart bleeds for Mother Nature. Why did City Hall approve the hill-top development in the first place? I may not be a resident of the area, but I am just as angry at this whole episode. What we have here is open destruction of nature, happening right before our eyes.

The project comprises 21 bungalows costing between RM10 million and RM15 million each. When the residents of Medan Damansara openly protested the project, the developer issued a statement saying it would be carried out in a responsible manner.

I don’t believe it. How can you be doing things responsibly when all the trees have gone, the monkeys have nowhere to go, and the earth is washed down to the drains when it rains? For goodness sake, there are people’s houses right at the foot of the hill. How can they sleep peacefully at night?

To some people, this may be called development. To me, it is an irresponsible and irreversible destruction of Mother Nature. Now, I may as well just drive along the Sprint Highway to reach my office.

Lee Kim Chuan
Klang

Source: The Sun – May 29, 2008