KPJ Healthcare Berhad

healthy pursuit: City Hall's effort to reduce carbon emission on the first Sunday of every month has attracted many supporters

CITY folk showed their support for the KL Car Free Morning organised by City Mall where nearly 10,000 participants gathered in front of Tower 1, Petronas Twin Towers in Jalan P. Ramlee to join the campaign, yesterday.

The event, which was launched four months ago, is held every first Sunday of the month to promote exercise and reduce carbon footprints in the city.

The participants turned up as early as 6am to walk, jog, skate and cycle.The KL Car Free Morning was flagged off by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at 7am. He later mingled with the participants and cycled for about 3km in the vicinity of the Petronas Twin
Towers.

The 6.5km route covers Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Dang Wangi, Jalan Ampang and Jalan P. Ramlee, which were closed from 7am to 9am.

Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said the event was to support government's effort in reducing carbon emission in the city by 40 per cent compared with the level recorded in 2005 by 2020.

"We are honoured to have the Prime Minister to join the cycling parade for the first time. He also +lauded the programme as it encouraged family bonding through healthy recreational activity.

"We are also glad that there is an increase in the number of participants this time compared with only 2,000 last month.

Apart from Kuala Lumpur, other places such as Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya, Johor and Pahang are also adopting carfree days, while
Penang is now looking into extending its route. We hope more participants will support the programme in the future," he said.

Phesal said City Hall also presented 80 bicycles to People's Housing Project (PPR) homes and residents' associations (RA) in the city.

"Every RA receives five bicycles and safety helmets. We want to encourage the residents to cycle around the city and do their part in protecting the environment.

"This is also to boost the sustainability of the carbon slashing activity,"said Phesal.

KL Car Free Morning chairman implementation committee Datuk Nairn Mohamad said: "The programme received overwhelming response from the public since it was launched in Jan 5.

"We hope this initiative will help reduce the traffic congestion as we want more people to cycle, car pool or use public transport to travel around the city."

There were free medical checkups, cultural, arts, sports activities, and a lucky draw:

PPR Kampung Limau RA chairman Ahmad Long, 57, said the campaign was a good move by the local council to keep the environment clean.

"We thank City Hall for providing us with the bicycles. Most of us are low and middleincome earners. Now we can make full use of the bicycles and we will send representatives to join the programme every month," he said.

KL Car Free Morning is supported by National Cycling Federation, Department of Culture and Arts, Youth and Sports Ministry, KPJ Healthcare, Royal Malaysian Police Traffic Unit, City Hall's Enforcement Department, Health Department and Civil Defence Department, and sponsors Milo, 100 Plus and Yeoh's.