PETALING Jaya residents are once again angered at the Selangor government’s latest attempt to push through with the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway megaproject after the state set conditions for the project to progress.

The residents were alerted after consultants began collecting information from those affected by the project.

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

He claims the consultants are conducting a social impact assessment (SIA) 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.”

He claims the consultants said the project is similar to Kidex, which was scrapped in 2015.

“On what authority is the consultant acting, when the state government cancelled it in 2015?

“If Kidex is coming back, it must be reverted to the state assembly, but that has not happened.”

Sheikh Moqhtar said the developer’s SIA consultants told the area’s mosque committee that the PJD Link is a revival of Kidex.

“But Kidex was already cancelled in 2015 by the former Selangor MB and was to be removed from the (Selangor) State Structure Plan 2035.

“The cancellation was recorded in the hansard of the Selangor assembly in 2015.”

In July 2022, 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 greenlit the PJD Link, and that the developer was supposed to survey the reactions of residents affected by the project.

In August 2022, 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 PJD Link, Putrajaya-Bangi Expressway, and Kuala Lumpur Northern Dispersal Expressway projects had been approved in principle by the federal government.

Fadilah, however, said the PJD Link developer must submit relevant impact assessment reports, and that the project would need the state government and Works Ministry’s approval to proceed.

The impact assessments are supposed to be submitted by April 5, 2023, a year after the concession agreement was signed.

Sheikh Moqhtar said if the statement (by Amirudin) is valid, it (PJD Link) should be cancelled indefinitely.

“We hope the prime minister can put an end to all these uncertainties and the legality of the highway.

“There must be a solution to this. We cannot be dragged on from 2015 up to 2023. There must be a definite decision on this (project).

“In 2022, the works minister approved the project on what grounds? We are in the dark now.”

He also said the consultants have sent letters to the residents asking them to attend a workshop on the SIA.

Sheikh Moqhtar said in two weeks, the residents will be writing in their concerns to the Works Ministry and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“In our letter to the PM, we will ask him to intervene in this long-standing thorny subject and call for its immediate cancellation.”

Section 19 resident Tan Yew Leong, 63, said he had received a letter from the consultants to participate in a focus group as part of a requirement for the SIA.

“I don’t think I will be going as I’m objecting to the project, because it is near my house.

“Almost all the residents here are opposing the project. This project will spoil the PJ area.”

The Coalition Against PJD Link Highway committee member said the group will continue to oppose the project. – January 19, 2023.