By Selangor Journal Team
SHAH ALAM, April 17 — The Federal government’s decision to scrap the contentious Petaling Jaya Dispersal (PJD) Link project has been described as timely by Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari.
He said the matter was already scheduled to be brought to the State Economic Action Council in the coming weeks as Selangor seeks a resolution to the ongoing issue.
“The state government heeds the Cabinet’s decision, which is timely,” Amirudin said in a statement today.
Earlier, Unity Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil announced that the Cabinet had decided to scrap the PJD Link project and will not hold further discussions with the developer.
The Communications Minister added that the firm had requested an extension of time to fulfil all conditions precedent set out by the government, but Putrajaya rejected the application.
“As a result of its failure to fulfil a number of conditions precedent, the project will not proceed. Our decision is not to grant an extension of time for the unfulfilled requirements,” he said during a post-Cabinet press conference.
Meanwhile, Amirudin clarified the confusion over the state’s involvement in the controversial project, noting that PJD Link was actually a Federal project approved by the previous government.
He said tolled highways have always been under the purview of the Federal administration.
“The role of the state government only involves land acquisition and environmental standards,” Amirudin said.
The Menteri Besar also reiterated that Selangor decided to discontinue the proposal after residents’ groups’ concerns were not completely resolved.
PJD Link originally obtained in-principle approval by the Cabinet in November 2017.
The project, which was aimed at addressing traffic congestion, would have connected the north and south of Petaling Jaya.
However, various quarters have objected to the proposed highway, citing negative impacts on the surrounding areas. They instead suggested that the government focus on improving the public transportation system and first and last-mile connectivity.
On July 31 last year, Amirudin said Selangor had cancelled the proposed development of PJD Link because it failed to meet the state government’s conditions.
He said the administration was unhappy with the plan submitted by the developer after going through the various assessment reports.
On February 24 this year, the Menteri Besar said Selangor would not support the highway’s construction if the current alignment was unchanged and advised the developer to avoid areas with strong public opposition.
He reiterated this on April 7, stressing that the project would not be approved unless it is realigned to satisfy all stakeholders.
