Press Statement by ScRAP (Stakeholders cum Residents Against PJD Link) Team on behalf of Residents and Business Owners of Petaling Jaya and Kinrara

2 April 2024 - Many residents, stakeholders and business owners from Petaling Jaya and Bandar Kinrara remain resolutely against the PJD Link tolled, elevated highway project.
 
This was declared by a group of representatives from residents associations, joint management bodies, management corporations, resistance groups and commercial entities from Petaling Jaya and Bandar Kinrara at a Press Briefing session today.
 
Delegates came from Bandar Utama, Damansara Jaya SS22, Damansara Kim SS20, Sek
19, Sek 17, SS2, Five Stones Condominium, The Hub SS2, Sek 14, Sek 20, Sek 22, Sek
51 and Sek 4 in Petaling Jaya. Others from Vista Lavender Apartments and Bandar Kinrara, as well as some PJ commercial entities, the alumni association of a school located smack in the path of the proposed highway, and committee members of the Say No To PJD Link group and Persatuan Petaling Jaya Lestari were also present.
 
David Yoong, chairman of ScRAP (Stakeholders cum Residents Against PJD Link), said these voices reflect the sentiments of well over 300,000 residents and stakeholders in the affected areas, who reject the proposed highway because it passes intrusively through many developed areas but offers little connectivity due to its toll-centric limitations, does not connect to public train stations, and inflicts irreparable social, environmental and economic damages to the settings of mature urban landscapes.
 
Referring to a summary list of survey engagements, Yoong reiterated that residents and stakeholders from within the zone of influence (500 m to the left and right) of the PJD Link highway alignment have spent time and incurred resources to engage with the SIA consultant hired by the highway developer in Focused Group Discussions, from December 2022 to March 2023.
 
The findings revealed 83% of the respondents were against the project.
 
In addition, the people of Petaling Jaya conducted a parallel independent survey, which showed 93.6% of the respondents in an online poll strongly objected against the highway.
 
Yoong says the people are eager to view the final SIA report which was approved in November 2023, after earlier reports in July said it was initially ‘not satisfactory and did not meet certain conditions set by the Selangor state government’.
 
“We need to know the methodology and understand the rationale employed by PJD Link Sdn Bhd and the SIA consultant to come up with their public opinion survey figures shared recently with some residents in Petaling Jaya, which showed over 54.3% of household respondents supported the project.”
 
“These figures are totally contradictory to the views of the people in Petaling Jaya and Kinrara, and may have led the Selangor state government to announce that ‘almost 50% of those opposed to the project are residents of Petaling Jaya’, and that ‘residents in Kinrara wanted the highway’ ”.
 
On the support for the highway shown by the residents from Taman Medan, Yoong says their views should be respected. “As good neighbours, we understand their localized congestion issues. What they need are multiple links from Petaling Jaya and NPE to bypass their neighbourhood roads to access KESAS.”
 
Yoong rationalizes that this may be achieved by short flyovers from say the end of Jalan Penchala at Sek 2 to pass over and above NPE to reach KESAS. “These solutions are cheaper, may be built more speedily, and most importantly, offer toll-free access. One does not need to build a highway that transcends an entire city to resolve localized congestion problems”, Yoong added.
 
Yoong has also heard similar grouses from residents along Jalan Gasing, in Sek 6 and Sek 5, Petaling Jaya. Using the same approach, Yoong showed several graphics and diagrams which illustrate proposals to ease smooth flow of traffic along Jalan Templer, all the way from the Jalan Selangor roundabout to the T-junction with Old Klang Road.
 
“Combinations of flyovers, an underpass and an overhead U-turn bridge are sufficient to relieve the many jams which happen daily during peak hours along Jalan Templer, and the roads which connect to it, including Jalan Selangor, Jalan Gasing and Jalan Othman. Most critically, these are all toll-free short span solutions.”
 
Yoong admonishes the state government and the local councils to engage with the people whose interests they are supposed to serve, and not unnecessarily burden road users with more tolls. “Show you love and care for the city and its people that you are managing. The short-span localized solutions are cheaper and more efficient. They may be built with effective financing means, employing open competitive tenders, not privatized negotiations with undisclosed terms.”
 
At the Press briefing session, Tuan Syed Mohd Taufik  from Bandar Utama commented on the limitations of existing highways to disperse traffic, saying that their township is already bound on both sides by Sprint and LDP, and PJD Link with its poor connectivity is not going to help ease their problems.
 
Encik Selve Sugumaran from Sek 14 urges the governments and authorities to come forward to explain what they see as benefits of the proposed highway to the public. “The PJD Link concession agreement was reportedly given to a foreign bank for loan financing, hence the argument of national security breach does not hold water. Apart from this, the EIA, TIA and SIA reports must be revealed to the people if this project truly serves their interests,” Selve remarked.
 
Many others present expressed their desires for improved public transport facilities, including first and last mile connectivity, and other green modes of mobility like cycling lanes and pedestrian walkways.
 
The briefing session ended with Yoong showing another alternative highway route which circumvents Petaling Jaya city. “If the government and authorities insist on building a privatized tolled highway, then use this outer-ring road concept which runs elevated over other existing highways like NKVE and Federal Highway, but still connects from the start to end points of PJD Link”, Yoong said, adding that the people remain in principle against negotiated public infrastructure projects without disclosure of terms and costs. 

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