Bukit Kiara: Weekend Mud Flood Reignites Conversation On Threat To Green Lung
Locals who frequent Bukit Kiara’s hiking trails express concerns about the growing developments taking over the popular green oasis.
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Work on the Bukit Kiara Federal Park administrative zone office project has been halted immediately after a mud flood struck Jalan Haji Openg in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) on Saturday.
According to New Straits Times, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has also fined the contractor, while clean-up efforts were carried out together with the Fire and Rescue Department and the contractor’s team.
Yeoh, who inspected the site Saturday night with Mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud, said DBKL acted swiftly due to the emergency and the potential danger to nearby residents.
She added that the project falls under the National Landscape Department of the Housing and Local Government Ministry and is being carried out by the Public Works Department (PWD) under the Works Ministry.
Among the additional steps taken were dismantling hoarding structures at the site, repairing the silt trap to manage surface water flow, and setting up a DBKL control centre to coordinate operations on the ground.
She said such works will no longer be permitted to continue in a wide, uncontrolled way, and must instead be implemented in properly planned and managed phases.
Yeoh also called on the Landscape Department and the PWD to take swift mitigation steps to ensure the incident does not happen again.
Social media lights up with talks about the threat to Bukit Kiara as a green lung
We often see citizens expressing their concerns about urban developments gradually encroaching on the areas where they live, and on green lungs around the city which provide a lot more to a community than just fresh air and a space for recreation.
A post on Threads reignited conversations about Bukit Kiara, an area that still has lush surroundings but faces increasingly rapid development.
According to Lim Ee-Van, the fight for Bukit Kiara is an old battle that began in 2010.
He said at the time there was already news that the trails on the hill would be taken away. By 2012, the “Great Wall of Kiara” was erected to mark the land that belongs to forest reserves, and the portion of land cut out for what he described as “capitalist developers”.
“The movement peaked in 2012, with a gathering to collect signatures for a petition. I was there, amongst the thousands that was hopeful the greens of Kiara remains,” he said.
View on Threads
Another Threads user shared a photo of property developer signboards put up in Taman Persekutuan Bukit Kiara, as well as the plot of land that was cleared for the project.
The Great Wall of Kiara
The “Great Wall of Kiara” refers to a controversial 3.5-meter-high, reddish perimeter fence built around sections of the Bukit Kiara forest near Desa Sri Hartamas and Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, starting around 2012.
It resembled a “mismade structure” of the Great Wall of China and is a popular hiking area, also known for its junction signs.
Hiking groups and trail associations at the time also voiced out their protest against the earthen “fence” as it not only shrank the green lung, but also disrupted animal habitats and closed off routes hikers usually take.
Beyond that, some also reported pollution in rivers and other bodies of water around the hill as a result of construction and heavy machinery moving through the area marked for development.
Although some trails are not accessible to hikers and casual strollers, there are still routes south of the “wall” that the public still enjoy.
In fact, that portion of the park is very popular among locals and residents in the area until today. There are even videos online that offer detailed guides, navigation tips, and popular spots along the trails of Bukit Kiara.
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