VIDEO | 6.19m
A meeting by Kidex Sdn Bhd to explain the Kinrara-Damansara Skyway project to affected residents erupted into a shouting match last night as neither side could agree on why they had gathered there.
Angry residents wanted the meeting's organisers to drop the "town hall meeting" label as it had legal implications on the approval process.
However 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.
Pakatan councillors: Meeting not approval
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.
In a statement on Thursday, the party whip of councillors Lee Suet Sen (DAP), Haji Mohd Ghazali bin Daud (PAS) and Tang Fuie Koh (PKR) clarified the meeting was not part of the approval process but a platform for residents to voice their concerns.
"Please be informed however that this presentation is not part of the statutory process for the amendment of the local plans but an effort undertaken by Kidex to address what they see are issues of concern to residents.
"We have to date not received any application with the detailed plans and alignment from the highway concessionaire for consideration by the local council.
"Hence at this point of time, the question of whether to initiate an amendment of the three local plans (RTPJ1, RTPJ2 and RKK13) to accommodate the proposed Kidex Elevated Highway does not yet arise," said the trio.
"Kidex will be required to convince MBPJ that such a project will benefit PJ residents and table before MBPJ council with all information required before any decision can be made to initiate the process of local plan amendment under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976."
The residents' committee however demanded that MBPJ similarly state its stand on the matter.
A meeting by Kidex Sdn Bhd to explain the Kinrara-Damansara Skyway project to affected residents erupted into a shouting match last night as neither side could agree on why they had gathered there.
Angry residents wanted the meeting's organisers to drop the "town hall meeting" label as it had legal implications on the approval process.
However 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.
Pakatan councillors: Meeting not approval
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.
In a statement on Thursday, the party whip of councillors Lee Suet Sen (DAP), Haji Mohd Ghazali bin Daud (PAS) and Tang Fuie Koh (PKR) clarified the meeting was not part of the approval process but a platform for residents to voice their concerns.
"Please be informed however that this presentation is not part of the statutory process for the amendment of the local plans but an effort undertaken by Kidex to address what they see are issues of concern to residents.
"We have to date not received any application with the detailed plans and alignment from the highway concessionaire for consideration by the local council.
"Hence at this point of time, the question of whether to initiate an amendment of the three local plans (RTPJ1, RTPJ2 and RKK13) to accommodate the proposed Kidex Elevated Highway does not yet arise," said the trio.
"Kidex will be required to convince MBPJ that such a project will benefit PJ residents and table before MBPJ council with all information required before any decision can be made to initiate the process of local plan amendment under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976."
The residents' committee however demanded that MBPJ similarly state its stand on the matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.