Residents opposed to the proposed Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway, which they say is a thinly disguised revival of the scrapped Kinrara–Damansara Expressway (Kidex) project, have called on the state government and Petaling Jaya mayor to hear out their arguments against the highway.
Claiming that work on the project is due to start at the end of this year-end, Sheikh Moqhtar Kadir, a spokesperson for "Concerned Residents Section 14, PJ Action Committee objecting PJD Link", also announced the launch of a new coalition - the Coalition Against Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link Highway at a Zoom meeting yesterday afternoon.
Sheikh Moqhtar said that residents around the proposed highway route have been living in “fear and anxiety” after developers PJD Link Sdn Bhd announced in January that work on the dual-carriage expressway would commence late this year.
He also claimed that Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari and Petaling Jaya Mayor Mohd Sayuthi Bakar had declined to meet with his group.
“A right of hearing must be given to us. The developer was given this right for them to present their facts, so now, it’s only natural for us to be given that fairness to engage with the state, as well as the MB, to hear our side of the story.
“We’ve also been trying our level best to meet with the mayor, but we’ve been unsuccessful.”
“They can’t just shut us down by saying ‘This is a development goal’. Development goals must be sustainable and compatible with society.” he said during the Zoom meeting hosted by Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah and attended by Selayang MP William Leong as well.
Maria said developers of the project should find other ways to overcome traffic problems and take into consideration how people are feeling about the elevated highway.
"I’m not convinced that it will reduce traffic, and it could have a big social cost.
"In Section 14, most of them are retired senior citizens. I have always felt we can improve our public transport so that we have fewer cars. We can work out better public transportation instead of building highways," Maria said.
PJD Link Sdn Bhd executive director Amrish Hari Narayanan announced in January that if it was allowed to proceed, the highway is expected to create 12,000 jobs and provide an estimated economic output of RM6.5 billion.
However, after agreeing to an interview with Malaysiakini at the time, Amrish declined to proceed after receiving questions that required him to give a more detailed explanation.
Leong said yesterday that people miss the point when talking about economic growth, as it's often just the top one percent that reaps the benefits.
“We are talking about our lives and the lives of our children. PJ is a very mature community and the older people, like me, have spent their life savings on a house. If you ask them to go, where can they go?
“This will break families apart, and there will be human cost and misery which you cannot measure. The money can never be enough," he added.
Sheikh Moqhtar said that aside from fears about losing their homes when PJD Link Sdn Bhd acquires land for the highway, residents and business owners were also worried about a drop in property prices of their homes or businesses located near the highway.
He added that many were concerned about the potential for serious accidents during the three-year construction period, citing recent accidents at highway construction sites in Kuala Lumpur.
In January Amirudin told Malaysiakini that it would be unfair for critics of the PJD Link to equate the project to Kidex.
An initially proposed alignment for the PJD Link reportedly comprised a 34.3km dual-carriage expressway, while the original plans for Kidex would have spanned 14.9km of a fully elevated expressway.
Amirudin further said PJD Link (M) Sdn Bhd had, in its first presentation to the state government, pledged to overcome all concerns previously raised by Kidex opponents.
“Because of that (pledge), we (state government) said ‘no problem, go back to the community, meet the local council, meet the resident associations’.
“Present your (developer’s) case and come back to us with the feedback,” he said, adding that the proposal is still in the preliminary stages.
Noting that highway developments are often unpopular with residents, Amirudin insisted that the end goal would be to ease intra-city connection, in this case bypassing a daily traffic snarl on the Federal Highway.
“This is where we have to find a balance between the state government’s intentions and development goals and the residents’ objections,” he stressed. - Mkini
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