A total of 20,868ha (more than 51,500 acres) of public open spaces were available across the country, with only 39% gazetted, according to government statistics.

Some gazetted public spaces were developed into parks, said Nga Kor Ming, the minister for housing and local government. If the other open areas are not gazetted, “it creates an opportunity for misuse by irresponsible parties,” he said after launching the national landscape policy here today.

He said local authorities must speed up measures to gazette the areas as public open spaces. Most of the public spaces available had been handed over by private entities to local authorities before obtaining planning approval for development projects.

Nga hopes that local authorities will gazette the relevant areas next year and obtain allocations from the national landscape department and local government department to develop the spaces.