Kidex a betrayal of Pakatan voters
The project goes against the coalition’s avowed opposition to highway tolls
The Kidex issue is giving a chance for PJ residents to judge which of their elected representative are driven by principles and which by political expediency.
Now that Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has declared that the highway project will go on despite objections from affected residents, we would like to know whether other elected representatives in Selangor have anything to say.
We’ve known for some time where Puchong MP Gobind Singh stands. He has declared his opposition to the project, saying that to support it would amount to a betrayal of the people who voted for Pakatan Rakyat on the strength of its election manifesto, which indicated the coalition’s loathing for highway tolls.
Gobind’s DAP colleagues—assemblymen Ng Sze Han, Lau Weng San, Rajiv Rishyakaran and Yeo Bee Yin—have also indicated their disapproval although they stopped short of rejecting the project altogether.
The assemblymen’s statement, coming a day after Khalid’s announcement, urged the state government not to approve the project until studies justify it.
The four assemblymen represent constituencies that will be affected by the 14.9km elevated expressway, which happens to be part of a federal government traffic dispersal plan for the Klang Valley. It remains to be seen whether their statement is good enough for their constituents, especially those who own properties that may have to be demolished to make way for the project.
We are awaiting statements from other elected representatives. What about Khalid’s PKR colleagues? What about PAS?
Khalid’s announcement was rather curious. While stating unequivocally that it was “impossible” to cancel the project, he said he would tell Kidex to organise a town meeting to make up for the one that ended in disarray on May 16.
What will be the purpose of the meeting if the highway is already a done deal? The most obvious explanation is that he wants to pacify the angry citizens.
Going by the May 16 fiasco, it is unlikely that the ruse will work. During that chaotic meeting, the residents were practically insisting that they be consulted before—not after—the project approval.
This is not the first time that Khalid’s administration has shown itself to be nearly as arrogant as any BN government.
In many infrastructure decisions, public consultation seems to be the last formality to be observed. Usually, the decision is already made butcunningly worded as “in principle” so that U-turns are possible in case residents are inflamed.
We are reminded of the 2009 protests against the plan to build a Carrefour hypermarket in a built up area of Kota Damansara. The affected residents not only went to the streets, but also engaged with politicians, including going to a meeting of the State Economic Action Council.
