KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — Land acquisition notices from the Selangor Land Office for the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Expressway (SUKE) were served to residents in Ampang and Cheras months after the expiry of its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, a watchdog group said today.

The group comprising residents opposed to the highway produced a letter from the Department of Environment (DoE) that showed the EIA report issued in March 2013 had lapsed in March 2015.

“They have clearly not followed the Town and Planning Act,” Agos Hasan, spokesman for the group calling itself ‘Say No to SUKE,’ told reporters after handing over a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) at its office here.

Agos related that the Selangor Land Office — which had received preliminary approval by the PKR-led state government — had served notices on some 100 residents in housing areas that would be affected by the highway only last September, half a year after the expiry of the EIA report.

As such, the legality of the entire acquisition process is now suspect, he said.

Agos added that the residents group is now planning to file a judicial review sometime this month to quash the project for not following due procedure.

“There are components that are ready to file a judicial review. It will be filed soon,” he said.

Residents are also in the dark about the exact alignment points, the identity and number of other residents who will be served notices, and the final alignment construction plan.

The Say No to SUKE group has been opposed to the highway since it was first mooted in 2012 due to its potential impact on the residential communities in the area.

Among their concerns were attempts to acquire the land on which a temple, gazetted as a heritage site, sits.

The highway also does not feature in the Ampang Jaya Local Plan, Agos said.

He earlier briefed Suhakam commissioner Datuk Dr Aishah Bidin regarding the lack of engagement and the failure by the approving authorities to follow due process in approving the highway.

SUKE is one of several mooted highways in Selangor whose approval by the state government had come under scrutiny.

This includes the Damansara Shah Alam expressway (DASH) and East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE).

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali recently said that the state is still willing to listen to objections despite the approvals for the highway projects.

The SUKE highway will be constructed by Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Berhad (Prolintas).