PETALING Jaya residents are still not convinced of the need for the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway despite an engagement with the project consultants.

They said the consultants failed to answer their queries on the project.  

They are also calling for the project to be scrapped, especially when they claimed that the consultants had said the project was similar to the now-cancelled Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

Coalition Against PJD Link Highway leader Sheikh Moqhtar Kadir said when they asked the consultants if this highway is Kidex, they agreed.

“So if it is Kidex, the Selangor government said it is not to be revived,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“But the consultants just went on with their presentation.”

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

“So why are we still going on with this (highway)?”

Sheikh Moqhtar said the residents were also surprised when one of the traffic consultants asked if they should replace the project with rail transport instead.

He said the consultant was queried on certain areas and she also felt that there was basis to their criticisms.

“She then asked if we would be open to a rail instead (of highway). We were shocked and taken aback,” he said.

“Why are they now giving makeshift proposals? What they are trying to tell us is that this highway is not doable.

“Their traffic impact assessment is inconclusive. Shouldn’t they have all the details before they table it to residents?”

He said if the highway is not feasible, then the consultants should tell the project developer to cancel it, like what was done to Kidex in 2015.

“The consultant shouldn’t be talking about rail transport when we are discussing the PJD Link,” he said.

“There was a lot of dissatisfaction that was being shared with the residents.

“The attendees at the briefing said 100% no to the project.”

Sheikh Moqhtar said there also seemed to be some variations from the previous alignment.

“Previously, it was going through Sungai Penchala. But this time around, it is from Jalan Professor Khoo Kay Kim, cutting through the Bukit Bintang Boys’ School and Brickfields Asia College into the Astaka field,” he said.

“There were quite a number of queries posed to the consultants because it doesn’t make sense to cut through a mature city.

“This project should be cancelled and they should look at other routes.”

Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi has said the PJD Link concessionaire had yet to fulfil all conditions specified in the agreement.

He said the concessionaire is currently carrying out assessments for environmental impact, traffic impact and social impact.

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

However, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari has said the state government has not given any approval to developers of PJD Link.

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

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

Meanwhile, Amuridin’s special officer Jay Jay Denis has been reported as saying that there was no reason for the government to forcefully acquire land and proceed with the highway project if it is met with fierce public protest.

Denis said if the developer fails its impact assessment surveys, the state government will reject its proposal.

He said while the veto power lies with the federal government, the project will not be pushed through if the residents openly disagree with it.

“We do not want a case where state land is forcefully acquired,” he was quoted as telling a news portal. – March 20, 2023.