Azmin to face PKR over alleged approval of 3 Selangor highways

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali will be asked to account for his alleged approval of three highways in the state without the consultation of PKR leadership. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 28, 2015.

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali will be hauled up to explain allegations that ‎he approved the construction of three highways in the state without consulting the party leadership, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.

She said Azmin would have to face the party this Friday during the tabling of the Selangor Budget 2016.

"I will ask him what happened," the opposition leader said outside Parliament today when asked if Azmin would be asked to explain the matter.

"This Friday, we have the Selangor Budget so I will ask him to explain to the party."

Sinar Harian yesterday reported PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli as saying that Azmin would have to face the party leadership over the allegations.

Sinar Harian's report mentioned the 32km Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang highway that will cut through Cheras, Kajang and Taman Putra Ampang.

The report said the 60-year concession was awarded to Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings (Prolintas), and was expected to resolve traffic congestion problems in several highways in the Klang Valley.

The state government had approved another highway, the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) in June, which environmentalists said would cut through the Ampang reserve, a critical source of water for the Klang Valley.

This, they said was not in line with Azmin’s pledge on January 7 to ban development which harmed the environment.

Earlier in the year, Azmin pulled the plug on the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) for failing to fulfil the conditions set by the state government.

Among the conditions were for independent traffic and social impact assessments to prove that the project would benefit not only road users, but also those living along the alignment, as well as the negatives of the project.

The state also wanted the concessionaire to reveal the toll rate throughout the concession period, including any hikes in between. It also wanted to know the amount the concessionaire would collect during the concession period and the rate of return on investment.

The fourth condition was for the full concession agreement to be disclosed in line with the state government’s thrust on transparency and accountability.

Azmin had also said earlier this month there was no definite decision on whether to build a proposed Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH), to which residents had objected.

Last month, residents' lobby group Say No to DASH (SNTD) had also urged Azmin to give clear answers on which highways had been approved following confusion and "errors" involving the listing of certain highways supposedly cancelled in the state's development plans. 

SNTD said if found that the last portion of the proposed DASH was still included in the Draft Selangor State Structure Plan (SSP) 2035, despite the menteri besar's promise to the contrary.

Azmin had also previously admitted that the inclusion of the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) in the SPP was a mistake, as the state government had already decided to cancel the project.

SNTD said that as of November last year, Kidex, DASH and the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) were still listed as projects under the Selangor government’s development master plan.

- TMI