A day before, there were reports saying that Kidex has been scrapped. Main reason was because Kidex has failed in an independent study. A day later, Kidex said that the project is still being considered. It said that the report of an unfavourable assessment report is untrue. It further said that Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) is still studying the viability of the highway. Whatever MBPJ councillor Lee Suet Sen is untrue and final decision has not been made. No communication has been forthcoming from MBPJ to the company yet. In fact a cancellation of a federal project like Kidex must be made by an official spokesperson and not by one councillor. In fact the final decision should only be made by the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES). MTES’s chairman is the Menteri Besar Azmin Ali himself.
Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP) has always been featured widely as the expressway with lots of jams on a daily basis. I know because there was once when it took me one hour and 30 minutes just for a 4km stretch to reach my home in Kelana Jaya. Many have criticised that Kidex solves only partially whatever jams that is happening today and there are other ways to solve the jams instead. Thus, this is an argument by the people affected by the project versus a private company which has stretched for the longest of times. Some said it’s because the developer did not fulfill its obligations while the developer said that it has fulfilled its obligations well ahead of time.
Personally, I think the decision is now delayed because way too many people have tried to influence the decision. It seems that everyone has something to say. Truth is, if an independent study has been done and its conclusion is final, then just do a press conference and let the public view the findings. What is so tough since the state government has said that it will be very transparent in this matter? Is it because the independent study is not independent enough? Is it because the state government is worried that this may cause it to lose some valuable votes? Again, votes? Oh yeah, delaying it further is unlikely to cause either party to soften their stance. The developer would push for a Yes and the residents would do even bigger events to protest against Kidex. Thus in the end, the decision may be based on who is louder instead of who is right. Let’s wait for MTES’s chairman to announce the final conclusion then.
Oh yeah, the reason why the number of residents protesting against Kidex is huge is because the areas affected is huge. They include Tropicana Mall, SS2 Mall, Rothman’s traffic lights, Section 14, Amcorp Mall, Hilton Petaling Jaya, Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, Jalan Templer roundabout, Taman Datum Harun, Taman Medan Baru and Bandar Kinrara.
Just decide objectively, that’s all. There’s little need to delay any further since both sides have submitted everything they were supposed to submit.
written on 31 Jan 2015
Next suggested article: Seven highways starting next year. Thats means, MORE TOLLS in future. 🙂
