Selangor should reject Kidex project

Gobind Singh Deo

I call upon the Menteri Besar of Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, to respond to the memorandum against the proposed construction of the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KIDEX) sent to him by residents concerned on March 29, 2014.

Amomg the 5 points raised in the memo, reference is also made to Kidex as being contrary to Pakatan Rakyat’s pledge to abolish tolls in its Manifesto Rakyat 2013.

Pakatan Rakyat has been consistent in its call for tolls on highways to be abolished.

I have, as Member of Parliament of Puchong, raised this many times in Parliament calling upon the federal government to abolish tolls so as to reduce the financial burden on the rakyat.

As such, it is difficult to see how the Menteri Besar could now agree to a tolled highway in the form of Kidex.

Promises made to the people during elections form the basis upon which governments are given their mandate to govern. These promises, reduced into election manifestos such as the Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto 2013, must be respected and fulfilled.

As the government of Selangor, we now have the power to reject Kidex. We must now do what is necessary in order to ensure that full effect is given to the pledges we have made to the people of Selangor in our election manifesto.

As MP of Puchong, although I accept that we must find solutions to ease traffic congestion in Selangor, I must express my open objection to this project as it is a tolled highway which quite clearly flies in the face of the Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto Rakyat 2013.

I therefore call upon the Menteri Besar to do everything within his power to stop this project and to inspire further confidence in those who voted against toll in the last election, that we in Pakatan Rakyat will not now let them down. – April 7, 2014.

* Gobind Singh Deo is DAP MP for Puchong.