LOGA BALA: RENAMING OF ROADS AT REQUEST OF CONFERENCE OF RULERS

(The Star) – The decision to rename eight major roads in the city was a request by the Conference of Rulers, or Majlis Raja-Raja, said Deputy Federal Territory Minister Datuk Dr Loga Bala Mohan.

“The request was made to the ministry and we brought the matter to the Cabinet and a decision was made last year,” he said.

Loga Bala was commenting on Monday’s announcement by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to rename eight roads to reflect the names of past Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Work on the installation of new signboards is expected to begin today.

On how the roads were selected, Loga Bala said one of the criteria was the roads had to be of a certain length to reflect the significance of the names.

He said he was unsure if public engagement was conducted by DBKL on the matter and could not elaborate.

However, proponents of the matter such as DBKL advisory board member Gunaseelan Palanisamy said DBKL should do away with irrelevant road names.

“For example, in Bukit Jalil where the national sports complex is lo­­cated, road names should reflect sports heroes like the late Mokhtar Dahari and Datuk R. Arumugam. In other areas, historical or political figure heads could be used,” he said.

Jalan Duta will now be called Jalan Tunku Abdul Halim while Jalan Khidmat Usaha will be referred to as Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah.

Jalan Ipoh, which is the stretch from Jalan Segambut to Jalan Pa­­hang, has been renamed Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah.

Of the other roads, Persiaran Duta will now be referred to as Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin while Jalan Khidmat Setia and Jalan Ibadah will be known as Jalan Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Lebuhraya Mahameru will have its name changed to Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar, Persiaran Maha­meru to Persiaran Tuanku Ja’afar and Jalan Semarak to Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra.

A similar outcry erupted in 2008 when DBKL came under fire from all quarters when it changed the world-renowned Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang to Jalan Kejora without prior notice.

The backlash caused the then Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique to intervene and the decision to retain the original name was announced by KL Mayor Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan.