SELANGOR Menteri Besar Amiruddin Shari yesterday assured the people that his government would reject any future highway development project if it brought no benefit to the people of the state.

Speaking at a Pakatan Harapan event in Kota Damansara last night, Amiruddin denied Selangor has given the go-ahead for the proposed Petaling Jaya Dispersal (PJD) Link project.

“What was agreed between us and the company (developer) is that they will come back to us with a case study, a study on how the people in the area are reacting to the project. Once the study is complete, they will have to come to us and brief us,” he said.

“That is our agreement; we didn’t agree to allow them to carry on with the project and to date they have not come to us to present what have they derived from the study.”

“Therefore, it wasn’t us who gave them the green light, it was the federal government. I can guarantee that we will object to any development plan or project that does not bring benefits or improvements to the lives of the people of Selangor, whether it is the PJD Link, PJM Link or whatever.”

The Selangor government was recently accused of walking back on its promise to oppose the PJD Link project.

Residents in the Coalition Against PJD Link group said it was shocked at the lack of action from the Selangor government.

Group leader Sheikh Moqhtar Kadir, said PH politicians, including Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, who previously said the project would not proceed had not kept their promise. 

“Unfortunately, the project is still in the wind, it has not been dropped even though we wanted it so.”

Sheikh Moqhtar said another highway in Petaling Jaya was unnecessary and that residents would rather have more public transport options.

The elevated highway is said to be a revival of the Kidex project, to which the residents were also oppoed and which PH eventually dumped.

However, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof has said in recent months that the PJD Link project is back on track.

The proposed road will cross over the Federal Highway to connect the Damansara area to Kinrara, with links to Puchong, Bukit Damansara and Petaling Jaya along the way.

Selangor executive councillor Izham Hashim, when asked about the status of the project after Fadilah said it was going ahead, said talks were still ongoing and that reports were yet to be submitted. – July 24, 2022.