Bloggers hero

BUKIT Gasing is not the only story of residents expressing their fears and frustration over uncontrolled development in the Klang Valley.

Over the weekend, hundreds also demonstrated against the trail of destruction in Ampang Hills.

Frustrated with the authorities, they have resorted to taking their grouses online.

These include dedicated blogs and websites such as saveukayhts.wordpress.com, muststopthis.blogspot.com, serimenanti-solok.blogspot.com and nolandslide.org Residents of Taman Hijau, Ukay Heights, Taman TAR, and Dataran Ukay, set up saveukayhts.wordpress.com in February last year to voice their dissatisfaction on the proposed development of steep, forested slopes between Taman TAR and Jalan Hulu Kelang.

The project, to be completed by 2010, will see the construction of 149 bungalows and 460 shop lots in a 10-storey building.

Visitors to the blog are kept abreast of the development as well as pictures and summaries of events organised by the residents to show their protest against the project.

The residents’ determination to preserve the greenery in their area has seen other bloggers adopting their cause as well.

One such blogger is Rusdi Mustapha, whose blog, serimenanti-solok.blogspot.com, also champions the cause of the residents.

An Ampang resident himself, Rusdi also chronicled the residents’ meeting with Selangor state executive councillor for tourism, consumer affairs and environment Elizabeth Wong, Gombak MP Azmin Ali and Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin on Saturday.

Rusdi, who has lived in the area with his family for almost 20 years, said the residents were baffl ed as to why the development was taking place.

“We are puzzled why, despite the numerous landslides, the developers still chose to select this site for development.

“The trees serve as a water catchment device. If the hillside is stripped bare, there is a good chance that we could see fl ash fl oods like those in the city, if not worse,” he said.

The issue was also given prominence by blogger Tony Yew, whose site muststopthis.blogspot.com gave coverage to Saturday’s meeting.

Yew remarked that it was disturbing that the project was approved despite it being in the same area of Highland Towers, which collapsed in 1993 and killed 48 people.