Kidex opponents in race to meet MB Azmin ahead of highway review
(Malay Mail Online) – Anti-Kidex lobbyists are pushing for a meeting with Azmin Ali, hoping to make their case to the newly-installed Selangor mentri besar before he proceeds with his promised review of the controversy-ridden highway project.
Malay Mail Online understands that Say No to Kidex (SNTK), the group representing residents opposed to the RM2.34 billion Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex), has already contacted PKR’s Lee Hoy Sian and communicated its intention to the Petaling Jaya Selatan MP.
Hee is believed to have given SNTK his assurance that he will speak with Azmin this week to firm up a meeting date between the MB and the lobby group.
“I have been made to understand that YB Hee has made some inroads…he is confident that this (meeting MB Azmin) can take place.
“He says he needs a week,” SNTK committee secretary David Yoong told Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.
Yoong said SNTK wanted to meet Azmin personally to avoid repeated the same “miscommunications” and problems they had faced with the latter’s predecessor, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
The meeting would also give SNTK an opportunity to provide their findings and “technical data” to support their case against the highway project.
“We want to provide the MB all this, so that he can make an informed decision on the matter.
“It’s to help him facilitate his review against Kidex,” Yoong explained.
Last week, Azmin said he would review all Selangor highway project proposals including the controversial Kidex.
Petaling Jaya City Councillors (MBPJ) are still unconvinced of how the Kidex will reduce traffic congestion, despite a high-level joint briefing by the highway developer and the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) back in August to explain the viability of the project.
Impact assessments on traffic and the environment are among the crucial documents needed for the local authority to approve an amendment to Petaling Jaya’s local city plan to incorporate the highway.
In July, MBPJ revealed that the Kidex project had been rejected on three occasions as the developer had failed to provide sufficient details, including its final Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) report.
Under Section 18 of the Town Country and Planning Act (TCPA), construction cannot start unless a highway fits with the Petaling Jaya City Council’s (MBPJ) plans.
Kidex is currently not incorporated into the council’s blueprint for Petaling Jaya city.
Despite the growing opposition, mounting evidence in the form of replies in Parliament and the state legislative assembly indicate that the project is set to proceed.
Among the areas that could be affected by the project are Tropicana Mall, SS2 Mall, Rothman’s traffic lights, Section 14, Amcorp Mall, Hilton Petaling Jaya, Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, Jalan Templer roundabout, Taman Datuk Harun, Taman Medan Baru and Bandar Kinrara.
Construction of the multi-billion-ringgit highway could begin as soon as next year and be completed by 2018.
