PETALING JAYA, Dec 3 — The confusion over the renaming of roads in the city continued yesterday after an error was spotted on a signboard.
The signboard, in Jalan Parlimen, lists the new name of Jalan Duta as Jalan Tunku Abdul Halim when it should be Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim.
Malay Mail reported last Wednesday City Hall had misspelled the road’s name in a release to the media, following which mayor Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib said it would be corrected.
Ahmad Phesal said the council would rectify the error on the signboard in Jalan Parlimen.
“To our knowledge there are no signboards with errors but we will rectify the mistake as soon as possible,” he said.
He said each signboard cost RM700 but did not specify how much it would cost to correct the error.
Ahmad Phesal also said a thorough exercise had been undertaken by the council in the selection of roads to be renamed and it was not done at random.
“Many factors, including the road’s characteristics and history, were taken into consideration before we decided to embark on the renaming exercise,” he said.
Responding to Malay Mail’s Voice of the Valley column by Pearl Lee on Monday, which raised questions on whether more thought should have been put into the exercise to ensure the roads renamed befitted a king, Ahmad Phesal insisted a lot of thought had been put into it.
In the column, the author had put into perspective the consequences of renaming roads in the city with high number of vice activities, including prostitution, after past rulers and it could inflict negativity on the monarch.
“We know what we are doing. Previous name changes did not require the public’s consent and I don’t think there should not be such concerns over the name changes,” Ahmad Phesal said.
“A special task force chaired by the Federal Territories Ministry, City Hall and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka had carefully deliberated on the matter and we decided these eight roads should be renamed.
“Our proposals were later brought to the Cabinet and it was approved on June 4.”
The eight roads renamed last Wednesday were Jalan Duta to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim, Jalan Khidmat Usaha to Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, Jalan Ipoh (between Jalan Segambut and Jalan Pahang intersections) to Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Persiaran Duta to
Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, Jalan Khidmat Setia and Jalan Ibadah to Jalan Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Lebuhraya Mahameru to Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar, Persiaran Mahameru to Persiaran Tuanku Ja’afar and Jalan Semarak to Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra.
