Thumbs up for car-free move

By C. PREMANANTHINI | streets@nst.com.my

LAUDABLE: City Hall’s ‘Go Green Car Free Morning’ programme encourages the people to use public transport, besides reducing the carbon footprints in the city

KUALA LUMPUR: CITY folk welcome the "Go Green Car Free Morning" programme announced by City Hall recently.

In the proposal, a 6km loop, starting from Jalan Dang Wangi to the Golden Triangle area via Jalan Ampang, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan Imbi, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, will be closed to motorised traffic between 7.30am and 9.30am every first Sunday of the month.

Sharifah Nur Fasihah Syed Omar, 25, a food outlet manager, said she supports City Hall for introducing the campaign which can help to reduce the carbon emission in the city.

Sharifah Nur Fasihah said she has been driving for the past seven years and the increasing volume of vehicles in the city has worsened the traffic congestion.

"With this initiative, it would at least reduce the road congestion here and also the pollution in the city.

"The Golden Triangle area is one of the busiest in the city and now with the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit, it has only aggravated the traffic congestion.

"However, the car-free duration may be too short to have an impact. The council should at least extend it to a day and if it is successful, City Hall should implement this campaign on a weekly basis," she said.

Sharifah Nur Fasihah said although it may be just a trial run, she hoped City Hall will introduce the initiative in other areas like Central Market and Petaling Street.

Nurfardilla Sukeman, a senior human resource officer from Putrajaya who works in a recruitment company, said this is the first time she has come across such a campaign.

She said it is a good move by the authority which will help keep the environment clean.

Nurfardilla said City Hall should have introduced such a campaign earlier as it would reduce the traffic congestion.

"This campaign may encourage more people to use public transport. It would be great if they can do this every week and with longer hours.

"I have been driving for six years and it is exasperating having to face the traffic crawl almost every day, and sometimes on a weekend, too," she said.

Nurfardilla hoped that the campaign can be expanded to other places like Puduraya and Wangsa Maju.

Architect, Foo Man Jack, 35, from Bukit Tinggi, Klang, said the effort taken by the City Hall was good.

He was happy to know that the authority has taken effective measures to reduce the carbon footprints in the city.

"We had introduced many environmental campaigns but many did not turn out well.

"The reason is because of our lackadaisical attitude towards environmental conservation.

"I believe this is the only way to marshal public support to help reduce the carbon emission in the country.

"This campaign should also be introduced to other cities and towns, especially where there is easy access to public transport," he said.

K. Thanavathi, who works in an accounting firm in Puchong, said although the move to reduce pollution is laudable, closing the roads for a few hours might, however, affect the business in the area.

She said the authority should discuss with the business operators there before implementing the move.

"However, it is certainly a good move to encourage the people to use public transport," she added.