PETALING Jaya lawmaker Lee Chean Chung will be seeking answers from the Works Ministry on the status of the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway mega project.

The MP said he would be raising questions on the highway – previously proposed to link Kinrara to Damansara – at next month’s Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Lee replaced Maria Chin Abdullah as MP for the constituency in the recent general election.

“I met with the residents early this year and they raised their concerns on this project. We will seek an explanation.  

“We are in the midst of drafting the questions for the ministry,” he told The Malaysian Insight.  

Lee said that he will be looking into the grouses the residents had highlighted to him. 

The residents in the area have long objected to the project but they are unsure if the state government has given the go-ahead. 

Section 14 residents association chairman George Paul Raj said that Petaling Jaya is a mature city and residents don’t want a highway running through it.  

“We don’t want traffic, noise and debris pollution. It (highway) could be too close for comfort to the housing and business areas here. 

“It might affect certain areas here during the construction period. We also don’t want to see construction debris falling on our roads.” 

He added that they do not need a highway running through the city, but the developer could instead construct a ring road.  

“Selangor’s manifesto says no toll highways in the state, so how have they allowed this highway?” 

Last week, residents questioned the Selangor government on the status of the project.  

Coalition Against PJD Link Highway leader Sheikh Moqhtar Kadir said consultants have been asking residents to participate in a survey. 

He claimed the consultants were conducting a social impact assessment report as requested by the project developer. 

“We are concerned now about the status of the project. Prior to the elections, politicians said that the project is a no-go if it is similar to Kidex (Kinrara-Damansara Expressway). 

“All this is causing a lot of tension and suspense to the residents. We have already called for the project to be scrapped.” 

In July last year, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the state government will reject any future highway development project if it brings no benefit to the people. 

He said Selangor had not given approval for the PJD Link, and that the developer was supposed to survey the reactions of residents affected by the project. 

The following month, Sheikh Moqhtar had questioned then works minister Fadillah Yusof on his approval for the PJD Link when Kidex, a similar project, had been cancelled. 

It was reported that the federal government had, in principle, approved the PJD Link, Putrajaya-Bangi Expressway, and Kuala Lumpur Northern Dispersal Expressway projects. 

However, Fadillah said the PJD Link developer must submit relevant impact assessment reports, and that the project would need the state government and ministry’s approval to proceed. 

Sheikh Moqhtar said if Amirudin’s statement is valid, the PJD Link project should be cancelled indefinitely.

He said in two weeks, the coalition will be writing in their concerns to the ministry and to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. – January 26, 2023.