By Amar Shah Mohsen
SHAH ALAM, Aug 8 — Selangor Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari has dismissed suggestions that the recent decision to scrap the proposed development of the controversial Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link Expressway (PJD Link) project was due to the approaching state election.
He pointed out that the Selangor government was only informed of the details of the project developer’s impact assessment reports — portions of them which failed to meet state conditions — last month.
“The reports were only submitted to the Town and Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) about a month ago,” he said on the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap talk show hosted by Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan, which was published today.
“When we asked about the reports, they (PLANMalaysia) said they needed to do some checks, before finally informing us that the assessments did not meet our requirements. As a result, we had to announce (the decision to cancel).”
When pressed further if the announcement was not at all in conjunction with the August 12 state poll, Amirudin said in jest: “Not entirely”.
The Selangor Pakatan Harapan chairman was questioned on the timing of the project cancellation so close to polling day, after certain quarters accused it as a populist move to win brownie points.
Amirudin first made the announcement to scrap PJD Link on July 31, noting that the developer had failed to meet conditions set by the state government, specifically in relation to its social impact assessment (SIA).
Later, he said the project would only be revived if all the issues highlighted by the state are addressed.
Elaborating on the matter today, Amirudin said based on information obtained from PLANMalaysia, the developer had specifically failed to tackle concerns raised by residents who would be affected by the project.
“This includes issues of noise pollution and proximity of the development to housing areas. This will certainly affect the quality of life of Petaling Jaya residents.
“That was why SIA was part of our condition (for the project development).” he said, adding that the developer had passed both environmental and traffic impact assessments.
Asked if it is true that the project would be reconsidered if it passes the SIA, Amirudin said the state government always adopts an open door policy, provided all concerns must be ironed out.
“That has always been our stand. This is why when we agreed to listen to the proposal initially, we said the developer must engage with the residents and prove PJD Link is not another Kinrara–Damansara Expressway (Kidex).
“If it is too similar, then the state will stick to its decision in 2015 (to cancel Kidex then).”
The 14.9km proposed PJD Link would have connected the Damansara-NKVE Interchange in the north to Bandar Kinrara in the south, cutting travelling time between Damansara and Kinrara by about 25 per cent.
