KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — The Petaling Jaya city council's (MBPJ) decision to reject the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) project is justified as Kidex Sdn Bhd has yet to submit its final traffic impact assessment (TIA) report, a group of councillors said.
MBPJ councillors Lee Suet Sen, Cynthia Gabriel and Tang Fuie Koh said they discovered today that the concessionaire has only submitted a preliminary TIA, and will hand in the finalised report by the end of this month.
“This fundamentally vindicates MBPJ’s position of not approving the Kidex Highway proposal given incomplete information by the highway concessionaire,” they said in a joint statement.
“Prior assertions by Kidex that all relevant reports have already been handed over to the local authorities, following the aborted briefing on 16 May 2014, are manifestly inaccurate and wholly untrue,” they added.
A public briefing organised by Kidex on May 16 had to be cancelled after angry residents slammed the developer for being “cheeky” and “misleading” in hosting the event as part of a requirement criteria for the “implementation” of the highway.
A week prior to the failed briefing, Kidex chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nor Idrus denied claims that they had not submitted all relevant documents including a TIA to build the RM2.2 billion super-elevated highway.
He claimed that all documents were submitted during the first technical committee meeting with the Malaysian Highway Authority on Oct 14, 2011 - before they were issued the concession agreement.
The councillors today said there has been far too much confusion surrounding the contentious project, which was not helped by the cancellation of yet another briefing that was supposed to be held yesterday.
They, however, noted that Petaling Jaya mayor Datin Alinah Ahmad had confirmed that MBPJ will hire an independent traffic consultant to pore over the full TIA once it is submitted by Kidex Sdn Bhd.
“As policy makers in MBPJ we laud this bold move, as one that is not only necessary to dispel concerns and fears of the impact of the proposed highway, but one that is professional and accountable to ratepayers of Petaling Jaya.
“Despite the dark clouds of public distrust choking the KIDEX highway proposal, MBPJ will do its utmost to uphold principles of good governance, integrity and transparency in the interest of all PJ residents,” they said.
The Kidex project has been rejected on three occasions by the city council as developers had failed to provide sufficient details.
Under Section 18 of the Town Country and Planning Act (TCPA), construction cannot start unless the highway fits with MBPJ’s plans.
Kidex is currently not incorporated into the council’s blueprint for Petaling Jaya city.
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.
