I have not approved any highway since becoming MB, says Azmin

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali says there have been no highway approvals since he took office late last year. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, November 2, 2015.

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali today told the state legislative assembly that he had not given approvals for the construction of highways in the state since he took over the position.

He said after the cancellation of the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex), the state government accepted the fact that building highways was not the answer to traffic congestion issues in the state.

"After being given the trust as menteri besar and after Kidex was cancelled, there has been no other approval given to build any highway in Selangor," he said in answer to a question by Permatang assemblyman Datuk Sulaiman Razak (Barisan Nasional).

Azmin, who is also PKR deputy president, took over as menteri besar from Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim last September.

The state government, he said, was in the process of completing a study of the public transportation main plans, and expected it to be ready by the end of the year.

"That is why, in the public transportation structure plan, we take into account the opinions of the public and the needs of new developments," the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman said.

At the same time, Azmin said Selangor was the process of negotiating with Putrajaya to look into the target set by the Land Public Transportation Commission (SPAD) that gave importance to the usage of using private vehicles compared to public transportation with a 40:60.

"If this remains, it will give room to more highways being built and that does not solve any problem."

In fact, the state government also recently announced a joint venture in the Light Rail Transit (LRT) with Kumpulan Prasarana Malaysia Berhad.

"Even if it (LRT) is completed by 2020, it can have a capacity of 70,000 passengers per day from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia."

Besides that, when asked if the government can approve all Kidex projects that have been cancelled, he said it would never happen.

- TMI