KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — The Say No To DASH (SNTD) group said today it will be holding a protest rally against the construction of the Damansara Shah Alam Highway (DASH), claiming to have proof that the Selangor government had lied when it said there was no final decision yet on the matter.
SNTD spokesman Mak Khuin Weng said that a March 2 news report by The Edge stated that kitchen and wardrobe designer and retailer Signature International Bhd (SIB) accepted an award of RM79.95 million from the Selangor government for its land that is being acquired to build the DASH project.
“We got news that the Selangor government is going ahead with the DASH project, The Edge report confirms that land is actively being acquired by the Selangor government for this purpose,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
According to The Edge report, SIB received a notification from the state government through a filing with Bursa Malaysia for the compulsory acquisition of the land, 1.35ha in Sungai Buloh, Petaling district, for construction of the DASH.
“We have tried WhatsApping and contacting the Selangor state executive councillor involved in this, Elizabeth Wong, but there has been no reply yet.
“If the project has not been approved, why is the Selangor government acquiring land?” Mak asked.
He said a press conference on the details of the proposed rally will be held this Sunday, and that other residential pressure groups opposed to the construction of new highways in their backyards, such as Say No to SUKE (SNTS) and Say No to Kidex (SNTK), will also be invited to attend.
In January, the Selangor Town and Country Planning Department (JPBD) informed SNTD no approval has been given to the Damansara Shah Alam expressway (DASH) concessionaire.
SNTD representative Michelle Wong added that this was despite a news report quoting the concessionaire as saying that a construction company was pre-qualified for the building of the highway.
New portal the Star Online reported that SPAZ Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Seacera Group Bhd, was given two letters by Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd’s (Prolintas) unit Turnpike Synergy Sdn Bhd inviting the former to participate in the tender for both the DASH highway as well as for another proposed expressway namely the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE).
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.
However, residents in Damansara Perdana have opposed the highway’s alignment since 2012 as they claim that the highway encroaches on public facilities in the area.
