A meeting by Kidex Sdn Bhd to explain the Kinrara-Damansara Skyway project to affected residents erupted into a shouting match tonight as neither side could agree on why they had gathered there.
Protesters wanted the meeting's organisers to drop the "town hall meeting" stamp but the hosts, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and Kidex, refused.
"If you don’t consider this a town hall meet, then we can do it some other time," said newly-appointed Kidex CEO Mohd Nor Idrus.
"You can say no, no, no, no, no... I don’t care."
Protesters stood their ground as they took turns shouting down the CEO and MBPJ officials who pleaded for calm.
The protesters, who included Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, said that the people were not given proper notice for this to be a town hall meet.
Although, 650,000 residents of Petaling Jaya were expected to be affected by the 14.9km highway which cuts through the old Petaling Jaya estate, only about 500 managed to turn up, because of the short two-day notice.
A mixed crowd were present - young and aged, business owners, and even some in wheelchair and crutches - reflecting the diversity of the heritage area the highway will cut through.
Many had come for answers as they said that privately-owned Kidex have not made a proper social and environmental assessment before springing the unnecessary project on them.
They didn’t want the meeting to go on if it meant that Kidex was just going through the motions to get the project approved.
Together with state assemblypersons and concerned neighbourhood groups, there has been a growing chorus of people who wanted the RM2 billion project scrapped.
Kidex refused to do so without getting a chance to explain what it has been doing since 2011.
As an alternative to the LDP, the Kidex skyway to be completed by 2018 was to help ease traffic congestion in PJ by at least 30 percent, the company claimed.
But residents vehemently disagreed.
They said the project will destroy the environment, cause property prices to plunge and was not a clever solution to traffic at all.
What irked them was when Kidex officials explained that they were just there doing their job.
'We don't have a say'
The protesters said the company did not show any corporate social responsibility at all.
"We don't have a say. It is for the state and federal governments to approve," Mohd Nor told reporters later, when asked if the company would cancel the project if enough people disagreed with it.
"If the government doesn't ask me to dive, why should I dive?" Mohd Nor, who has been Kidex CEO for just two months, said.
The meeting at MBPJ civic hall was aborted after both sides refused to calm down and listen to each other after some 45-minutes of shouting and pointing.
"If you lead us down a dark alley, of course we have a right to say we won't go," David Yoong, secretary of Say No to Kidex pro-tem committee told Malaysiakini later after everyone cleared the hall.
He said that he wants MBPJ to answer why it tried to force the meeting down everyone’s throat without proper notice given to all.
Kidex also said that it had informed MBPJ that it was ready for a town hall meeting since end-February and Mohd Nor said he didn't expect the angry reactions he got tonight.
The project, said to be the most expensive highway if measured by cost per km, also went against Pakatan Rakyat's election promise to abolish highway tolls, the protesters argued.
Protesters wanted the meeting's organisers to drop the "town hall meeting" stamp but the hosts, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and Kidex, refused.
"If you don’t consider this a town hall meet, then we can do it some other time," said newly-appointed Kidex CEO Mohd Nor Idrus."You can say no, no, no, no, no... I don’t care."
Protesters stood their ground as they took turns shouting down the CEO and MBPJ officials who pleaded for calm.
The protesters, who included Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, said that the people were not given proper notice for this to be a town hall meet.
Although, 650,000 residents of Petaling Jaya were expected to be affected by the 14.9km highway which cuts through the old Petaling Jaya estate, only about 500 managed to turn up, because of the short two-day notice.
A mixed crowd were present - young and aged, business owners, and even some in wheelchair and crutches - reflecting the diversity of the heritage area the highway will cut through.Many had come for answers as they said that privately-owned Kidex have not made a proper social and environmental assessment before springing the unnecessary project on them.
They didn’t want the meeting to go on if it meant that Kidex was just going through the motions to get the project approved.
Together with state assemblypersons and concerned neighbourhood groups, there has been a growing chorus of people who wanted the RM2 billion project scrapped.
Kidex refused to do so without getting a chance to explain what it has been doing since 2011.As an alternative to the LDP, the Kidex skyway to be completed by 2018 was to help ease traffic congestion in PJ by at least 30 percent, the company claimed.
But residents vehemently disagreed.
They said the project will destroy the environment, cause property prices to plunge and was not a clever solution to traffic at all.
What irked them was when Kidex officials explained that they were just there doing their job.
'We don't have a say'
The protesters said the company did not show any corporate social responsibility at all.
"We don't have a say. It is for the state and federal governments to approve," Mohd Nor told reporters later, when asked if the company would cancel the project if enough people disagreed with it.
"If the government doesn't ask me to dive, why should I dive?" Mohd Nor, who has been Kidex CEO for just two months, said.
The meeting at MBPJ civic hall was aborted after both sides refused to calm down and listen to each other after some 45-minutes of shouting and pointing."If you lead us down a dark alley, of course we have a right to say we won't go," David Yoong, secretary of Say No to Kidex pro-tem committee told Malaysiakini later after everyone cleared the hall.
He said that he wants MBPJ to answer why it tried to force the meeting down everyone’s throat without proper notice given to all.
Kidex also said that it had informed MBPJ that it was ready for a town hall meeting since end-February and Mohd Nor said he didn't expect the angry reactions he got tonight.
The project, said to be the most expensive highway if measured by cost per km, also went against Pakatan Rakyat's election promise to abolish highway tolls, the protesters argued.
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