SHAH ALAM, May 21 — Kidex Sdn Bhd is responsible for persuading Selangor residents of the viability of its proposed 14.9km-long elevated highway that is meeting with mounting resistance, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has said.

The Selangor mentri besar stressed that the highway developer must keep engaging residents, following growing concerns and objections against the RM2.42 billion Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

“The onus is on them (Kidex Sdn Bhd), we will allow them discretion in terms of presentation, so on and so forth,” he told reporters here.

Khalid was asked to comment on whether he was satisfied with how Kidex Sdn Bhd had been collecting feedback from residents over the planned highway.

Kidex Sdn Bhd’s public briefing last Friday was cancelled following protests by over 300 residents who had accused the developer of surreptitiously using the event to meet yet another stipulation needed to execute the controversial project.

Many of the attendees turned hostile after Kidex Sdn Bhd’s communications head Datin Hasnah Abd Rahman announced the start of the event that the briefing was a requirement criteria for the “implementation” of the highway.

Most were under the impression the briefing had been called to allow residents to field questions regarding the Kidex proposal.

Most of the attendees — some of them members of the Say No To Kidex (SNTK) pro-tem committee — had accused Kidex Sdn Bhd of being “cheeky” and “misleading” for giving the impression that the event involved the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) when local councillors had previously stated that the briefing was solely organised by the developer.

The Kidex project has been rejected on three occasions by the city council as developers had failed to provide sufficient details on the project.

Under Section 18 of the Town Country Planning Act (TCPA), any form of development must abide by the PJ City Plans outlined by the MBPJ before any form of construction can take place.

In the case of Kidex, three such plans need to be amended as a super-elevated highway is currently not incorporated into the Petaling Jaya city blueprint.

MBPJ councillor Lee Suet Sen had recently told The Malay Mail Online that Kidex Sdn Bhd faced a “legal roadblock” and could only build the highway if the local council agrees to amend the PJ city plans.

He said that MBPJ rejected the project plan three times — during a brief in December last year, through its full council meeting in February and following a public display last month — when developers would not reveal details on the alignment of the highway and its traffic impact study.

Despite the growing opposition, mounting evidence in the form of replies in Parliament and the state legislative assembly indicate that the project is set to proceed.

Among the areas that could be affected by the project are Tropicana Mall, SS2 Mall, Rothman’s traffic lights, Section 14, Amcorp Mall, Hilton Petaling Jaya, Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, Jalan Templer roundabout, Taman Datuk Harun, Taman Medan Baru and Bandar Kinrara.

Construction of the multi-billion ringgit highway could begin as soon as next year and be completed by 2018.