KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Approximately 2,393.79 hectares of open spaces in the Federal capital have been designated as green areas to date, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
Of this total, 977.55 hectares have been gazetted, while another 1,416.24 hectares of potential areas will be and are currently undergoing the gazetting process.
“The Bukit Kiara Federal Park, the Bukit Kerinchi Recreational Park, the Kepong Metropolitan Park, the Pudu Ulu Recreational Park, and the Titiwangsa Lake Garden are among the open and recreational spaces in Kuala Lumpur that have been gazetted for public use,” she said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Dr Zaliha was responding to Batu MP P. Prabakaran's supplementary question on public parks and forest reserves in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the strategies of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in achieving the ratio of 20 square metres of green space per resident.
68.26 hectares of green areas in the Federal capital have been gazetted as forest reserves, including the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, the Bukit Sungai Puteh Forest Reserve, the Bukit Sungai Besi Forest Reserve, and the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve (Extension).
“These gazetted areas cannot be used for any mixed development activities or residential purposes,” she said.
Every proposed development in Kuala Lumpur must comply with DBKL’s expressed conditions, which include dedicating 10 per cent of the development area to open space.
Dr Zaliha added that this requirement would double the existing recreational areas while maintaining the forest reserves throughout Kuala Lumpur by 2040.
— Bernama
