MAY 26 — Menteri Besar should not turn a deaf ear to the people on Kidex.

We read with great concern that Tan Sri Abdul Khalid insisted that he would not hold any meetings with affected residents over the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) until he has received a full explanation from the relevant agencies. [1]

We hope that the Menteri Besar can understand the anxiety of the people over the project due to the lack of information on the details of the highway alignment. This is especially true for those whose land is among the 3,784 lots affected by the land freeze for possible compulsory acquisition.

 Although the CEO of Kidex Sdn Bhd, Mohd Nor, has said that the acquisition will involve only 10 per cent of the 3,784 lots and only minimally on the residential lots[2], the anxiety has been growing among the residents due to the uncertainty over their lands (the possible-acquisition notices were served in 31 July last year). Furthermore, without a detailed Traffic Impact Assessment, the residents who are living near to the proposed alignment will not be able to assess the impact of the highway to their day-to-day lives. Such worry gets worse when the state government announced to have given the project ‘approval in principle’ without ensuring a proper channel for the residents to obtain enough information.

We also hope that Tan Sri Khalid can understand the frustration of the people over Kidex murky deal with the federal government. The 14.9km elevated highway costs RM2.42 billion, which is more than RM 162 million per kilometer. Such exuberant cost must be duly justified as the public money is involved, failing which the project should be called off. 

Finally, we hope that Tan Sri Khalid can understand the anger of the people towards the repeated lack of transparency by the relevant agencies.  Kidex Sdn Bhd has not been able to furnish the public with detailed highway alignment and Traffic Impact Assessment and worse, it has been facing the residents with abominable arrogance. [3]&[4]

Although this is a federal project and they are supposed to justify the merits of the project as well as the cost of it, the state government must use its authority over land to push for transparency and accountability. The Menteri Besar should not side the federal government nor the developer but the people of Selangor.

We understand that public hearing may not be possible without sufficient information from the relevant agencies, however considering the anxiety, frustration and anger of the people, we hope that the Menteri Besar will come to Petaling Jaya to at least have a dialogue with the residents to listen to the people.

* This media statement is by Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, Ng Sze Han and Lau Weng San, ADUN for Damansara Utama, Bukit Gasing, Kinrara and Kampung Tunku. 

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.