http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...-complaints-snu


A group of Petaling Jaya residents only have until this Friday to change the route of the contentious Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (Dash) as their complaints to their local representatives have fallen on deaf ears.

Dash was incorporated as part of the draft amendments to the PJ Local Plan 2 that were put up for display from August 7 but the Say No To Dash group want changes to prevent the highway from cutting through dense residential areas of Damansara Perdana, Kota Damansara and Mutiara Damansara.

To do that, it needs affected residents to submit their objections to the proposed 20km expressway that would start from Puncak Alam in Shah Alam and end at the Sprint and Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP).

Their efforts, however, have been somewhat stymied by the lukewarm responses.

The group said although former exco and Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong is aware of the proposed highway and is against it, her hands are tied.

"Although she knows about it, she can't stop it because she claimed that nothing has been tabled to the exco," said group spokesperson Owen Chen.

However, their representative Joanne Ting is upset that Dash was incorporated into the PJ Local Plan 2 when as recent as on June 18, both Wong and Subang MP R. Sivarasa had stressed that no approvals nor updates had been given on Dash.

Saying that the mayor did not follow proper procedures in preparing the drafts, Ting claimed that the group had not been able to contact Wong, Sivarasa and PJU8 zone councillor G. Suriase since early August.

"They have all been uncontactable in their offices, service centres and contact numbers – calls, email and sms-es to them have all been unaswered," she said at a briefing for affected Damansara Perdana residents last night.

Former Petaling Jaya City Centre councillor Mak Khuin Weng said by convention, the PJ city council is supposed to provide feedback to residents who had expressed their concerns but this was not done even after some 400 residents had protested against the highway in April 2012.

He urged residents to submit their objections before Friday 5pm, which will then be compiled by the group and submitted to the city council.

"Our votes are tied to this issue, you need to make this clear, politicians only understand one thing and that is votes," he said.

In calling for residents to get in touch with their representatives through email, calls, text messages and social media sites, Mak said: "They are supposed to represent you in all these issues. Remember, they put themselves up as candidates, they ask for their jobs, so make them do their jobs. Tell them they have to speak up on this."

In rallying residents to take up a more active interest in the matter, Chen said staying silent was not an option.

"If we keep silent, it means we agree for the highway to be build in front of our windows," he said,adding that in some parts, the highway is only 60m away from the nearest buildings.

"We cannot be selfish and said, 'oh that's not my problem.' We cannot allow this to be built, it is going to dash our futures. If we do not help ourselves, no one is going to help us," he said.

To be built by Project Lintasan Kota Sdn Bhd (Prolintas), Dash is a six-lane, elevated highway which would see it squeezed in between houses and shoplots as it winds through the neighbourhoods.

Among areas that will benefit from Dash are Alam Suria, Denai Alam, Subang Perdana, as well as future townships planned on the Rubber Research Institute Malaysia (RRIM) land in Sungai Buloh.

How the impending clash between residents, the Selangor local authorities and the private company building Dash is resolved could impact a controversial Putrajaya-approved master plan to build five other tolled highways in the Klang Valley.

It is also an important political litmus test for the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as it undergoes a credibility crisis with some of the voters who had given it a mandate for a second term.

Besides Dash, the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (Suke), Eastern Klang Valley Expressway (Ekve) and Kinrara-Damansara Elevated Expressway (Kidex), have already attracted stiff opposition from residents and civil society groups. – September 2, 2014.

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