JULY 6 — News of the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) being approved over the Ampang Forest Reserve that serves as a water catchment area for much of the Klang Valley is cause for concern for urbanites who have experienced the water shortage and rationing exercise last year.
As resident leaders in Petaling Jaya, we are concerned of the potential effect to the water supply for the Klang Valley and we would like to add our voice of support to the Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES) environment group in questioning the Selangor government’s approval of this highway project.
TrEES has rightly pointed out that the inclusion of the highway in the Ampang Jaya Local Plan does indeed legally allow the project to proceed unhindered as the local plan is a public declaration by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) that the project would be part of the municipality’s future development blueprint.
One of the pillars of Petaling Jaya residents’ fight against the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) hinged upon the fact that Kidex was found nowhere in our the Petaling Jaya Local Plan and that any attempt to include the project into our local plan would be a betrayal of Pakatan Rakyat’s 2013 manifesto.
The EKVE was awarded via direct tender to Ahmad Zaki Resources Berhad (as claimed by PJ Utara MP Tony Pua in February 2013), which PR’s election manifesto clearly said it was against such practices. EKVE is also a tolled highway, which is also against PR’s election pledge to abolish tolled highways.
As voters, we are beginning to learn the harsh lesson that promises made to obtain votes do not necessarily translate to deeds.
Still, it is possible that such missteps are due to PR politicians’ attention being diverted to deal with the ongoing crisis between DAP and PAS and we believe it is not too late to reverse this decision at the Selangor assembly level.
Because this development project has such a wide-reaching effect on Klang Valley itself, we urge Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives to take your role as our representatives in the Selangor government seriously. Tell us where all of you stand on the issue; and if you do support this project, give us all the details as to why you support it.
* This statement is being made by the pro-tem committee that stood together to oppose the Kidex Highway, Say No to Kidex (SNTK).
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
