KLANG: Westport has turned the drab, dirty and uninteresting landscape normally associated with ports into a lush garden paradise with cascading waterfalls, leafy trees and flowering shrubs.

Its efforts to turn its surroundings into a "garden port" was hailed at the National Landscape Competition 2003, organised by the National Landscape Department in conjunction with National Landscape Day.

Westport, with its manicured waterfalls and thematic gardens, won second prize in the private building category. Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd in Kota Kinabalu won the first prize. The competition is aimed at instilling and sustaining interest in developing quality landscapes. .

"We believe in providing a soothing and pleasant atmosphere for our workers as this will lessen stress and bring out their best performance," said Westport executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnana-lingam. "The past year alone, Westport spent RM2 million on landscaping, the latest being a Japanese garden and a carpark," he said.