PETALING JAYA, July 16 — Damansara Perdana residents are fighting to stop the construction through their residential area of the proposed 20.1km dual-carriageway along the Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH).
But the concessionaire, Projek Lintasan Kota Holding Sdn Bhd (Prolintas), changed the alignment to go through Damansara Perdana. The RM4.3 billion highway was initially planned to pass over Mutiara Damansara before connecting to the Penchala Link,
As a result, the affected residents formed an alliance called the Anti-DASH Task Force in 2012.
The task force chairman Owen Chen said the project was planned in an ad hoc manner and was a temporary answer to the current traffic woes.
“Our stand remains the same as in April 2012 when we held a public protest together with 5,000 other residents and Subang MP R. Sivarasah and assemblyman Elizabeth Wong,” he said.
The group believes the highway was mapped out not in accordance with highway development guidelines.
“These guidelines include meeting safety and environment guidelines. Such documents like the environmental impact assessment and traffic impact assessment should be shared with the residents,” Chen said.
“The woes of residents in Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara should be heard too.”
He claimed none of the necessary preliminary reports were provided to affected residents.
“There has not been a single report presented to us residents which prove the traffic conditions in the affected area will improve with the highway,” he said.
“We question the haste in constructing the highway when the current Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is being built.”
“Shouldn’t the government be encouraging the use of public transportation instead of building more highways and worsen the already bad traffic conditions?”
Chen claimed the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) said the main reason for construction of the highway was to alleaviate the current traffic congestion along Persiaran Surian.
“When DASH is built, traffic on the Penchala Link, Damansara Puchong Highway (LDP) and Mutiara Damansara would also be significantly affected. How will that be resolved then?” he asked.
The group submitted their rejection of tolled highways to LLM, Petaling Jaya City Council, prime minister’s office and also to Prolintas.
Chen said the highway would not only impact the nearest condominiums including, Ritze Perdana 1, Emerald Perdana, Metropolitan Square, Ritze Perdana 2 and Neo Damansara but also its surrounding areas.
“The current proposed DASH alignment will be built on the main access road for residents living here. The proposed construction will affect the traffic flow,” he said.
DASH is one of six tolled highways proposed in the Klang Valley. Motorists can expect 12-inter-changes along the proposed highway.
The highway is believed to be an alternative route for Persiaran Surian at Kota Damansara which Prolintas claims have reached its full capacity.
It will also act as a link between the east and west of Klang Valley which will cross over the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), linking to existing highways namely the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) and Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Sdn Bhd (Sprint).
DASH will also be a solution to relieve congestion in the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia development area where the population is expected to increase to 300,000 in a few years.
The other planned highways are Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Expressway (SUKE), Serdang Kinrara-Putrajaya Expressway (SKIP), Pantai Barat Highways (LBP), Eastern Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) and Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).
