NEWS  PUBLISHED: 14 mins ago
Residents claim Dash highway will reduce their quality of life
BY: MICHAEL MURTY
Business owner Ivy Lim (right) says she feels 'penalised' by the conditional approval of the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway. — TRP pic by Azrol Ali
PETALING JAYA, Nov 19, 2014:
Residents in Damansara Perdana attended the “Say No to Dash” meeting with optimism that the state government will hear their concerns regarding the construction of the 20.1 km, 3-lane, Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (Dash) that would cut through their neighborhood.
Ivy Lim, 60, a business owner said she felt “penalised” by the apparent conditional approval of the expressway.
She said it was hard to fathom how it could have been approved with the highway cutting through this area when it was already so congested.
“It takes about 30 minutes just to get to the Curve during peak hours these days.
“Now they want to divert more traffic here with the approval of this expressway?
“There are so many condominiums and other buildings being built here as we speak,” she told The Rakyat Post after the Say No to Dash press conference held in Perdana Emerald Condominium here.

She said the construction would totally restrict pedestrians from having any space to walk about.
“When I moved here 7 years ago, I used to walk with my dog around this area, now there’s just no space and the condition is not safe to walk around anymore.”
She said she was confused as to how they were going to build the highway when roads were already so narrow and congested.
“Where is the quality of life? It used to be eco-friendly and now there’s no more greenery here in the area,” Lim said, adding that it was her hope that the decision made by the state government would benefit instead of burdening the people.
Joanne Ting, 44, business owner said the PJU 8/1 main road was the only access road the residents had and it would be directly affected by the construction of the highway.
“How can a highway come through here when we have high-rise buildings on both sides of the road. We have more than 20 condominiums here.”
She claimed that the highway would severely affect the quality of life for residents here.
“I don’t think that it’s a good idea as it would affect our health.
“There are young families here and those who bought into this place for retirement. We have a wide range of residents here who will be affected by the project.”
She said what really worried her was the traffic congestion in the future, if the project was carried out.
“We rather have trees than more concrete buildings, now there’s even an increase in rat population here because of the mass construction and dirty roads.”
Some 12,000 homes and 24,000 residents have already endorsed the Say No to Dash stance so far.
The expressway, estimated to cost RM11.5 billion, will link road users to Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong and Sprint Highway and will connect these areas: Jalan Sungai Buloh, Puncak Perdana, Alam Suria, Denai Alam, Kampung Melayu Subang, the Rubber Research Institute Malaysia, Kota Damansara, Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara.
Read more: http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/11/.../#ixzz3JWgXsLiC