PETALING Jaya residents are irked over vague answers given by Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi on the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) mega highway project.

Coalition Against PJD Link Highway leader Sheikh Moqhtar Kadir said the minister is focusing on PJD Link and not addressing the part of Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) being cancelled by the Selangor government. 

“So many events have taken place since 2015 when Kidex was cancelled.

“How did PJD Link come into the Malaysian highway plan?” he told The Malaysian Insight.

In a parliamentary reply last week, Nanta had said the PJD Link concessionaire had yet to fulfil all conditions specified in the concession agreement.

He said the concessionaire was currently carrying out assessments for environmental impact (EIA), traffic impact (TIA) and social impact (SIA). 

Nanta said PJD Link has received approval in principle from the federal government and policy approval from the Selangor government on September 30, 2020 before the concession agreement signed on April 5 last year. 

“In principle, PJD Link is a national infrastructure requirement based on the Highway Network Development Plan, which is used as a basis and reference for planning purposes and road/highway network development in this country.

“In addition, PJD Link is also intended to disperse traffic congestion along its corridor, starting from Bandar Utama to Kinrara through Petaling Jaya.”

He added that PJD Link has the potential to provide an alternative to traffic that uses the Damansara-Puchong highway, which has currently exceeded its service capacity.

However, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said they have not given any approvals to developers of PJD Link.

“There’s no approval from the state government. The approval for development previously came from Putrajaya.

“The state government has not received any proposed changes for the PJD Link,” he said. 

Sheikh Moqhtar said the Pakatan Harapan government in 2021 had said any project similar to Kidex will not be revived.

“We believe PJD Link is a rebranding of Kidex. We also don’t know if PJD Link will provide smooth traffic flow exiting the highway.

“They (developers) are doing the assessment of SIA, but there is no information of the highway alignment.

“We hope he (Nanta) will give us an opportunity to meet up with him to clear the air. This is so he will have a bigger picture when he reassesses the whole thing. We want to present a chronology of events so he can review the situation.”

Sheikh Moqhtar said the agreement was signed in principle but at that juncture there were no SIA, TIA or EIA reports.

“So, how can they be considered in principle without these assessments? We are also in the dark about where the alignment is.”

He also questioned how the highway was going to disperse traffic as there is a reported 2.6% reduction from Puchong to Petaling Jaya. 

“So, if they want to talk about alleviated congestion then have a dialogue with the residents.

“They need to understand our discontentment and why we are not for it.”

It was reported the federal government had, in principle, previously approved the PJD Link, Putrajaya-Bangi Expressway, and Kuala Lumpur Northern Dispersal Expressway projects. – March 4, 2023.