PETALING JAYA: Residents affected by the proposed Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) have questioned the silence of elected representatives on the major development project, which they say will cause misery to thousands.
PJD Link Sdn Bhd, the company undertaking the elevated highway project, has said construction is set to begin late this year.
The project has faced much opposition from residents’ associations and has been called a rehash of the scrapped Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).
Sheikh Moqhtar Abdul Kadir, chairman of a coalition against PJD Link, told FMT his organisation had tried to complain to MPs and assemblymen with little success.
He said the elected representatives should not remain “elegantly silent” because the people deserved to know where they stood on the issue.
“We have been reaching out to them but their response against PJD Link has been slow and not forthcoming,” he said, adding that only Selayang MP William Leong and Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah had so far lent their support.
“The deafening silence from key elected reps will frustrate the people further and will not augur well for them in the coming elections. The lawmakers must not allow this situation to perpetuate any further. They must give their utmost attention to attend to the plight of their voters,” he said.
He said residents had long complained of the highway’s negative effects, such as congestion caused by the construction, environmental destruction to make way for the road and the noise pollution that would plague residents.
Sekyen 14 resident Michael Kum, who used to protest against the development of the Kidex and has similar issues with PJD Link, said that asking politicians for their stance was not an antagonistic action, but simply a request for honesty.
“We just want to know whether you are with us or against us. This issue will affect so many people, particularly the many old folks who live in the hundreds of houses that would have to make way for the project,” he said.
He asked why Damansara MP Tony Pua, in particular, had so far not spoken on the controversial highway. The current alignment runs through his constituency.
Kum said new highways were not the answer to the area’s traffic woes. A more effective way to ease congestion was to upgrade public transport, he said.
Leong, a PJ resident since 1973, said politicians had a duty to step up and amplify the voice of the people.
“As elected reps, we speak with the mandate of the people. Therefore, it is stronger than the voice of the individual.
“As individuals, unless there is a large enough group, the authorities will tell them the greater interest of the common good must prevail over individual interests,” he said.- FMT
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