I refer to the letter Klang Gates' quartz ridge - heritage being destroyed.

We may travel as far as Australia to admire the Blue Mountains and Ayers Rock or to Krabi, Thailand to admire their vertical outcrops jutting from the sea or even to the Grand Canyon in the US but little do most Malaysians realise what amazing natural treasure lies in our own backyard.

Unfortunately, this magnificent natural heritage of ours, the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge, lies unprotected.

The area around the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge has been designated as an environmental sensitive area (ESA) but we are already seeing and feeling the effects of development with so many housing projects dangerously close to these areas.

How much of the land around the quartz ridges has already been approved for development by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) and the former state government?

If you climb up Bukit Tabur, which is a part of these magnificent quartz ridges, the view is breath -taking on one side. But on the other side, it is heartbreaking to see the devastation, ugly scarring and flattening of the hillsides in the vicinity of the Klang Gates dam and around Taman Melawati, Kemensah Heights, Kampung Kemensah (once famous for its streams and waterfalls which have now turned muddy) and Taman Zooview.

Further down all the way to Batu Caves too we see commercial as well as housing projects mushrooming close to the ridge.

The developer and local authorities may appease us with arguments that all mitigating measures to ensure ‘minimum effect on the environment’ will be carried out.

They may come up with an impressive array of ‘engineering solutions’ to protect the slope and the environment. They may say this is only a ‘low density development’ that will not affect earth movement but we know from experience as in the case of development on hillslopes at the Taman Melawati and Kemensah areas that ‘low density development’ does not mean low impact on the environment.

Do we really believe that all that piling will not affect the stability of the ridges? And when huge chunks of the ridge come crashing down after all the damage is caused, are the developers or MPAJ going to very magnanimously 'offer for our safety' to build ugly cement retaining walls to patch up the quartz ridge just like they did in Taman Zooview?

Is that the view we want of our natural treasure, all patched up, plastered and cemented?

The Quartz Ridge of the Klang Gates is a unique natural heritage. Don't hrow away our chance to preserve and protect this heritage for the generations after us.