THE Selangor government must explain how the previously cancelled Petaling Jaya Traffic Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway project is back on the drawing board, said Petaling Jaya Member of Parliament Lee Chean Chung.
Lee said he was shocked with the announcement by Selangor exco Izham Hashim yesterday that PJD Link and six other highways projects are now again under consideration by the state government.
“It contradicts the federal government’s decision on April 17, 2024 that the concession had been discontinued.
“Now, who requested that this proposed highway be put into the draft Selangor Structure Plan?,” he said in a statement today.
He added that announcing that the PJD Link project will proceed again will cause confusion and loss of public confidence and trust in the government.
“As the best option is for the public to have transparency and visibility over what transpired in the past few years, I again call upon the government to declassify part of the concessions agreement deemed important to evaluate its legal and financial impact to the government,” he added.
Yesterday, Selangor Public Infrastructure and Facilities, Agricultural Modernisation and Agro-Based Industry Committee chairman Izham said the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES) will now decide on the PJD Link project.
Izham said Putrajaya had asked for the project to be reviewed after the concessionaire made improvements to at least five areas along the proposed highway.
“There were improvements and changes made to five or six locations along the proposed highway.
“The mitigations made to the proposed highway look good (on paper).
“MTES is looking into the matter and will decide if the changes and improvements made to the proposed highway meet all the requirements,” he told the Selangor State Legislative Assembly.
Izham said the state government informed the PJD Link highway construction project to carry out a fresh social impact assessment (SIA) involving the proposed locations where changes and improvements were proposed.
The proposed 14.9km PJD Link would connect Bandar Utama to Bukit Jalil, as a means to disperse traffic and reduce traffic congestion in Petaling Jaya.
It was reported that the federal government had, on April 17, decided not to proceed with the PJD Link highway construction project after the concessionaire failed to meet six of 11 conditions.
The project, estimated to cost more than RM2 billion, was approved in April 2022 by the previous federal government under former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
It had faced severe objections from local residents. – July 5, 2024.
