PETALING JAYA, Sept 2 ― As the deadline for objection to a new elevated highway in Damansara Perdana looms, affected residents are demanding that their state representatives explain how the proposed project got inserted into local plans without prior approval from the Selangor government.

But according to the residents’ spokesman Joanne Ting, the city's district councillor Suriase Gengiah, Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong and Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah have not been contactable since June.

The proposed 20.1km dual carriage Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Highway (DASH) ― which will cut through high-rise buildings in the densely populated area ― was inserted into the Petaling Jaya 2 Local Plan (RTPJ2) last month and the residents have up to 5pm on Friday to officially record their disagreement with the city council.

The residents, who have banded together under a group called Say No To DASH (SNTD), said that when the group last met Wong on June 18, the PKR assemblyman had said the proposed expressway could not start as no approval was given by the Selangor government.

“Yet, two months later, the DASH project has been inserted into the RTPJ2 amendments,” said Ting, in a press conference at the Perdana Emerald condominium yesterday.

Ting said an invitation to the meeting last night had also been extended to Wong, Sivarasa and Suriase but the trio had not responded.

The group's demand for a feasibility study, traffic impact assessment and environment impact assessment from the city council and developer, Prolintas Bhd, has also fallen to deaf ears.

According to the map, the three-lane dual carriageway will be built with as little as five metres space between residential condominiums and office buildings.

“Having an elevated highway ripping through our neighbourhood, with so many tall buildings, in such a close proximity may destabilise the soil and cause a great impact on our families health as a result of pollution,” said Ting.

Former councillor Mak Khuin Weng, who has been roped in to assist SNTD, said once the RTPJ2's objection period ends, the plan will be gazetted under the Town and Country Planning Act which ultimately legalises the project.

“After sending in your objections use all available avenues to demand an answer from your lawmakers because this is the very reason they were elected in the first place,” he urged the 50-odd residents who attended the meeting last night.

“If you keep calm and keep silent they will assume that we agree to having the highway right outside our windows... with all the dust and noise,” added SNTD spokesperson Owen Chen.

SNTD has distributed flyers encouraging residents in condominiums around Damansara Perdana to vividly display the “NO DASH” posters on their windows and hang banners from balconies.

With 12 interchanges, the RM11.5 billion expressway plans to link drivers to Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong and Sprint highways, which residents claimed are already congested during peak hours.

DASH will serve motorists from Puncak Perdana, Alam Suria, Denai Alam, Kampung Melayu Subang, Jalan Sungai Buloh, the Rubber Research Institute Malaysia, Kota Damansara, Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara, Prolintas has said.