New city president has 'green' vision for Putrajaya
New Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) president Hasim Ismail is committed to turning the administrative capital of Malaysia into a "green" city.
Putrajaya is a showcase city under construction more than 30 km south of Kuala Lumpur.
"If Putrajaya can achieve the status of a green city, it will be a good contribution to the environment," said the former Home Ministry deputy secretary-general during an interview.
Hasim took over from Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat as the fourth PPj president from August 1. With 32 years of experience in the government service, he is confident in his new posting.
"Putrajaya is a very well-planned city. It was planned as a garden and intelligent city. It has achieved the garden status, but we have to improve on the intelligent status," he said.
The intelligent status is related to IT and communication sectors.
"Some buildings in Putrajaya have been awarded the Multimedia Super Corridor status but not the whole of Putrajaya, and it is something that we are working on," he said.
PPj is also looking to have more Green Building Index (GBI)-certified buildings in the capital city.
"It is one of the requirements for any new building to be built in Putrajaya," said Hasim.
He added that Putrajaya could reach green city status once both these two sectors (garden and intelligent) were improved.
One way to reach the green city status is to improve public transportation in Putrajaya.
"Hopefully better public transport service can reduce car usage, leading to minimising emission of carbon monoxide," Hasim pointed out.
One project he plans to revive is the monorail, which was abandoned due to lack of funds. He acknowledged that providing efficient public transportation was not easy.
As a start to reducing its carbon footprint, Putrajaya will be introducing 10 electric buses by early next year.
"This will also solve the issue of parking in Putrajaya," he said.
Now that he has taken over the helm, Hasim is also aiming to turn Putrajaya into a cultural and knowledge hub.
"Apart from being an administrative capital, Putrajaya should be a place where we hold conventions, dialogues and talks for sharing knowledge," he said.
"Currently, the only place suitable for such events is the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, aside from the limited halls at PPj," he said, adding that Putrajaya was planning to build more hotels and convention centres.
He also said that signature events such as the Royal Floria, Ironman, International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta and Putrajaya International Islamic Art and Culture Festival would continue to be held there.
