Selangor says Dash highway not scrapped, feedback from residents needed

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 ― The Selangor government has denied claims that the Damansara-Shah Alam Expressway (Dash) project has been cancelled but confirmed that the decision to remove it from the Petaling Jaya City blueprint was to allow further studies on the viability of the highway plan.

Selangor state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong said this was in line with Mentri Besar Azmin Ali's stand on the matter.

“As MB had said in the press conference after his meeting with the Works Minister, he mentioned that Dash and LLM (Malaysian Highway Authority) have to go back to discuss the alignment with the residents affected in PJ,” Wong told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

She stressed that removing Dash from the Petaling Jaya 2 Local Plan (RTPJ2) for the time being would allow further studies on the matter to be conducted.

On Friday, The PJ City Council (MBPJ) removed the Dash highway from the Petaling Jaya 2 Local Plan (RTPJ2) today to allow further studies following widespread public objection over the controversial project.

The Dash highway alignment was originally inserted into the Local Plan earlier last year amid objections from PJ residents.

Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said he was unaware of MBPJ's decision to remove Dash from the city's local plan.

“I have not been informed about this news but as I have said before we will handle any decision from the Selangor government based on the priorities and needs of the people,” Fadillah told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Opponents of the controversial highway project Say No to Dash (SNTD) previously claimed that Dash highway developer Prolintas Bhd tried to conceal the fact that work on the Dash project has already begun despite no official confirmation from the Works Ministry or the Selangor government.

According to Prolintas, Dash will be a 20.1km, three-lane, dual carriageway expressway starting from Puncak Perdana in Shah Alam to the Penchala interchange.

With 12 interchanges, the RM11.5 billion expressway plans to link drivers to Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong and Sprint highways, which residents claim are already congested during peak hours.

Dash will serve motorists from Puncak Perdana, Alam Suria, Denai Alam, Kampung Melayu Subang, Jalan Sungai Buloh, the Rubber Research Institute Malaysia, Kota Damansara, Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara, Prolintas said.