Despite rising protests, Khalid says Kidex highway will be completed as planned

Despite growing protest from Petaling Jaya residents, the Selangor Menteri Besar has said construction of the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) will proceed as planned.

Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (pic) today said it was impossible to cancel the construction of the highway as not only was it a Federal government project, but also part of the state’s infrastructure development master plan.

"In this matter, even if we disagree, the traffic problems in the state will not be solved. And this being the case, we have to adapt and adopt with the expressway,” he said after launching the Selangor Structural Plan in Subang Jaya.

Residents in Petaling Jaya are objecting to the 14.9-kilometre expressway as 3,784 lots are affected by a land-sale freeze. The developer has said that only 380 lots will be acquired.

Reports said for its length, the Kidex is the country’s most expensive highway yet at RM148 million per kilometre.

The expressway will tower over houses, schools and some of the busiest highways in the Klang Valley, with a route that stretches from Kinrara, Puchong, in the south to Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, in the north.

The residents' opposition to the project also stems from the belief that they had been betrayed by the opposition coalition, whom they had elected to lead the Selangor government.

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