Dr M says sad at KL’s disappearing greenery

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the man who transformed Kuala Lumpur from a sleepy backwater to a soaring metropolis of concrete and steel, said today he was sad at seeing the clearance of forest patches in the city to make way for skyscrapers.
“Sadly I have seen these forest patches disappearing one after another to be replaced with hard concrete and granite towers of development,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog today.
“I fear in time, in not too long a time, the forests will all disappear. Their green will no longer colour Kuala Lumpur,” added the former prime minister.
During his administration, Dr Mahathir had overseen mega construction projects in Kuala Lumpur which critics say transformed the swampy marshland into a concrete jungle.
Dr Mahathir, who was Malaysia’s longest-serving PM from 1981 to 2003, turned massive tracts of plantation land and into Putrajaya.
The bustling Kuala Lumpur City Centre, which includes the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, was also Dr Mahathir’s brainchild.
Dr Mahathir said today there were “skyscrapers in every corner, great skyscrapers of fantastic shapes and heights.”
But he expressed how wonderful it would be to be able to drive through forests right in the middle of the city.
“The experience is unique and it is characteristic of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia,” said Dr Mahathir.
“They will no longer give shade to passers-by. The sunlight will be hard and hot, bouncing off tarred streets and concrete pavements and heating up the air above,” he added.
The former PM said the patches of forest in Kuala Lumpur should be preserved amid the government’s efforts to turn the capital into a world class city.
“We should try to preserve them even if it will cost us a lot of money,” he said.