WHEN All Asia Networks Broadcast Centre (Astro) was set up in Bukit Jalil in 1996, residents and joggers frequenting Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur sighed with relief as the green belt remained intact.

However, fresh rumours that a telecommunications company or housing developer wants to develop a 39ha plot at Bukit Kiara has caused a new wave of unrest among the residents.

They fear that the plot, which had been initially earmarked for an Asian Broadcasting Centre, would now be developed.

The residents, together with Friends of Bukit Kiara, a non-governmental organisation, have been fighting to preserve the area for many years.

Friends of Bukit Kiara protem committee chairman Liew Khooi Cheng said residents from Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara Utama, Damansara Jaya, Desa Sri Hartamas and Petaling Jaya would like the plot gazetted as a green lung together with the remaining 123ha of Bukit Kiara.

He said Bukit Kiara was initially spread over some 606ha of land but some the land had already been developed as the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam.

“Bukit Jalil already has sophisticated broadcasting and transmission facilities used for the 1998 Commonwealth Games and there is no necessity for such facilities in Bukit Kiara,” he said.

Taman Tun Dr Ismail Residents’ Association (TTDIRA) chairman Abdul Latif Mohd Som said residents feared the 39ha of land would be converted for other purposes and urged the Government to gazette it as a green lung.

When asked about the rumour, City Hall director-general Salleh Yusup said they had not received any application for development on the piece of land.

On Wednesday, Segambut MP Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong said he had met Datuk Bandar Datuk Ruslin Hasan over the issue and, according to him, the mayor had agreed not to allow any development in the area.

Dr Tan had also written to Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, who also chairs the meeting of the Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur Land Acting Committee.

He said the Asian Broadcasting Centre was initially designated for the KL Commonwealth Games but the Government had later built an International Broadcasting Centre in Angkasapuri instead.

“There is no rationale to have another broadcasting centre in Bukit Kiara.

“Many people are worried condominiums will be built on the 39ha. I urge the Federal Government to take back this piece of land and hand it over to City Hall. This is a request not only from senior and former government officials but also from the public,” he said.

“If the masterplan is not followed, the Government has every right to take back the land. We are doing it for the rakyat,” he added.

According to the masterplan, Bukit Kiara is divided into four parcels, including the Lembah Kiara Recreational Park (16ha), a proposed arboretum park (107ha) and a previously proposed transmission tower and Asian Broadcasting Centre projects and other titled land (39ha).

The area, predominantly former rubber estates, was privately owned until the Government acquired it in 1976. The intention was to build a public park with a mausoleum to commemorate people who have contributed to the country’s development.

Instead, parts of the land were used to build KLGCC, Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam and the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club.

According to Dr Tan, some 80 hectares had been gazetted as a green lung and another 100 hectares are in the final stage of gazetting.

Meanwhile, City Hall is developing two 1ha plots for a trial arboretum, which is part of the proposed Arboretum Park project in Bukit Kiara.