DAP is prepared to address all issues raised by voters during the Selangor elections campaign trail, including on the controversial Petaling Jaya Dispersal (PJD) Link project.

Party election chief Rajiv Rishyakaran said he and his colleagues would not refuse to answer any queries from residents.

“I have already explained this issue to many PJ residents. I will not shy away from addressing this question. 

“The Selangor government has been consistent in our position and I will continue to enlighten people on this project,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Rajiv said although the PJD Link developers had announced that they have raised RM922 million in funding, the state government has not approved the project.

“It doesn’t matter if they have the money (for financing) or that they have contractors. Approval is still our prerogative,” he said.

“It does not mean we (the state government) are obliged to approve (the project).”

The proposed PJD Link is a 25.4km two-lane dual carriageway expressway that begins after the North Klang Valley Expressway toll plaza on the Sprint Expressway and ends at the Bukit Jalil interchange.

Rajiv also said the company has not met its own deadlines and has not brought reports for approval to the state government.

“They have submitted their reports to federal agencies, which are the social, traffic and environment assessments reports.

“Once that is done, it will be brought to the state government where it will be thoroughly vetted.”

The incumbent Bukit Gasing assemblyman added that the Pakatan Hardpan-led Selangor administration was brave enough to evaluate and reject a project if it was deemed to be unsatisfactory.

“We have done it before and we are not afraid to stand up and say if something is not right and how it should be done.

“Other companies have also put in proposals (for other projects), so PJD Link is not the only highway suggestion that has come up in the state.”

Rajiv said that whenever Selangor experiences these situations involving mega projects, the state government has its internal processes while the developers need to get federal government approval, and sort out other requirements.

“Then it will be brought to the state government where the projects will be evaluated.

“The state government is not afraid to reject projects that do not qualify.”

Referring to the Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex) that was cancelled in 2015, Rajiv said the project was evaluated, questioned and shown to be unsatisfactory in resolving traffic flow in Petaling Jaya.

“The Selangor government was not afraid to say no to the project.

“If the PJD Link developer brings the project reports to us, and if it does not change traffic problems, or if it is a repackaged Kidex, then the state government has no problem rejecting it.

“We will evaluate it when they come to us. So, they need to sort out their issues,” he said. –  July 7, 2023.