Bukit Kiara to be gazetted as federal park next year

Bukit Kiara, the last green lung in Kuala Lumpur, is a popular place among Klang Valley residents.

Bukit Kiara, the last green lung in Kuala Lumpur, is in the process of being gazetted as a federal park.

National Landscape Department director-general Esa Ahmad said the exercise to gazette the 153.78 hectares land is underway and expected to be completed next year.

"The Government's firm stand to preserve Bukit Kiara as a green area remains. 

"No development project would be allowed in the area," he said in a statement.

He said since the decision to gazette the park was made, the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, through the department, had taken measures to develop the park in stages for recreational purposes.

Since 2010, he said,  RM14.1mil has been used to execute interim projects to develop the areas under the "park and arboretum" concept for recreational purposes. 

"At the moment, 3,000 people visited the park daily on weekdays and 6,000 people on weekends," he said.

To ensure the place is safe, he said, the department has fenced up the area to keep away trespassers, planted 25,000 trees of different species to replace the old rubber trees, upgraded its infrastructure, repaired the slope, carried out erosion prevention works, resurfaced its service roads and jogging route and upgraded and added recreational facilities.

Currently, he said, the department is upgrading the park's infrastructure and resurfacing the main route in the arboretum area, replacing the street lights and water reticulation.

"We hope all parties would give their full trust to the land authorities to finish the gazetting process of the area," he said.