PETALING Jaya residents have shown opposition to the proposed Petaling Jaya Dispersal (PJD) Link in an independent social impact assessment (SIA) survey.

The survey showed that 93.6% of respondents living along the proposed alignment from Bandar Utama to Bandar Kinrara in Puchong objected to the project.

The respondents also stated that they and their families would be affected by the project.

Organiser of the independent SIA survey on the PJD Link, Dominic Wong, said the survey was done to gauge the true sentiments of residents living along the alignment.

“There have been so many reports on PJD Link and what the residents feel about it,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“At least with this independent SIA, we now know the true sentiments of the people.

“This survey was done to find out what the people think about the proposed highway.”

A total of 2,501 residents took part in the online survey, carried out between February 6 and March 1.

Wong said they represented the residents and commercial entities in the 13 areas surveyed.

The organisers conducted their own assessment due to the lack of transparency in the official SIA produced by the developer.

They said theirs is an “independent SIA”.

“So we don’t want folks to get confused,” Wong said.

He said according to the law, only the environmental impact assessment (EIA) is required to be shared with the public while the traffic impact assessment (TIA) and SIA are not.

Wong said the survey has been officially submitted to PLANMalaysia Selangor at its headquarters in Putrajaya and the Department of Environment.

“We are also seeking a meeting with Selangor menteri besar (Amirudin Shari) to present the survey,” he said.

“We also heard that the developer’s SIA will be reviewed next week.”

He said the survey clearly shows that the project is rejected by the residents for the problems it will bring.

“The federal and state governments must listen to the people and not approve the project,” he said.

“The recent trend of building tolled highways across mature neighbourhoods must stop due to the environmental and social impact.”

He said there are modes of transport that can be considered such as having efficient bus routes, subways and transit lanes for alternative vehicles.

Survey co-organiser Raymond Chan said the EIA and SIA should be produced by independent consultants, instead of consultants appointment by and paid for by the project proponent, which could give rise to issues of conflict of interest.

He said information regarding the developer’s SIA report must be transparent, consistent and precise.

“The results of the SIA and EIA must be substantive enough for the project to be approved or cancelled,” he said.

“They (reports) should not facilitate the project that has been rejected by the community.”

Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi has said that the PJD Link concessionaire has yet to fulfil the conditions of agreement.

He said the project 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, Amirudin said the state government has not given approval to the developers of PJD Link. – May 23, 2023.