LEE Chean Chung has ambitious plans to tackle overdevelopment, traffic congestion, youth training and low-cost housing maintenance as the Petaling Jaya MP.

Lee said the aim is to raise living standards not with more tall buildings or cars but better living space for the people.

“We firstly want to improve public transport because everything is interconnected in the Klang Valley,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“I will also be working with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and the state government to improve maintenance standards and infrastructure, such as public parks.”

Lee said he will ask in parliament about the status of the controversial Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link highway project.

He will also bring up the matter of maintenance for the Federal Highway.

“Federal Highway is a highly utilised and congested motorway, which is poorly maintained for cars and motorcycles. I will take this issue up with the Works Ministry.”

Lee said another issue in dire need of attention is the city’s low-house housing schemes.

“Garbage collection, proper car parks, lift maintenance and other issues need to be addressed.

“There are some management companies that did not go through a vigorous selection process. We will speak with the Local Government Development Ministry to evaluate the competency of these companies.”

He added that as a short-term measure, the local council will help the federal authorities with garbage collection and road repairs in low-cost housing areas.

As for parking in central Petaling Jaya, Lee said it was high time to look at alternative transport to cars.

“We need to change our lifestyle as we are also contributing to the problem by driving.

“More car parks will lead to more people using cars and more congestion. It will also be a waste to utilise green space for this.”

He said the state government, MBPJ and Transport Ministry must work together to build a comprehensive transport network.

“Apart from MRT, LRT and buses, we should have connectivity such as pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes.”

Lee said there will be technical and vocational education and training for the large youth population in Sri Setia and Taman Medan.

He said programmes will be targeted at young people from low-income households to equip them with skills that will enable them to become more than just e-hailing drivers.

“Next month I will start a two-month solar panel installation course followed by other courses such as smart installation, LED maintenance, smartphone workshops, video skills and others.

“This is so that they can have better job prospects.

“We hope they can take some time from their other jobs to come and learn these skills.”

Lee added that as the city does not have much open space for new amenities, its old sections will be renewed.

“We are looking at (the urban renewal of) old buildings, public parks, food courts such as in PJ Old Town, Taman Medan, Section 17, and Bukit Gasing.” – February 5, 2023.