Residents affected by the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) will use tomorrow’s meeting organised by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to demand that the highway developer reveal the status of its concession.
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | October 27, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Residents affected by the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) will use tomorrow’s meeting organised by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to demand that the highway developer reveal the status of its concession.
Say No To Kidex (SNTK) committee member Mak Khuin Weng told Malay Mail Online that the developer will be told to explain its plans after the concession lapses this November 15, and whether it plans to seek an extension to the deadline.
“Tomorrow morning we will be at Suhakam meeting with Kidex officials… they will have to answer or not answer us then,” he said when contacted.
“We will be asking if the concession will be renewed” Mak added.
Malay Mail Online understands that the Suhakam meeting is a follow-up to a complaint lodged against the highway project earlier this year, and that the commission had promised residents that it would investigate the concerns on the controversial RM2.42 billion federal project.
Others who are expected to attend the meeting are representatives from the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM).
“They are obliged to turn up,” Mak said, referring to Kidex Sdn Bhd representatives, but added that the officials can cite the Official Secrets Act by way of an answer if they wished.
Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam has confirmed that a meeting will take place tomorrow and that he has spoken to all concerned parties on the matter.
“Yes, there will be meeting,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted last week.
While Kidex Sdn Bhd has yet to obtain an approval from MBPJ for the construction of the highway or gather needed feedback from affected residents, there is growing concern that the concession agreement may be extended to give the concessionaire more time to do so.
For now, however, the concessionaire has no land on which to build the highway.
The land acquisition gazette for over 3,700 properties along the entire stretch of the proposed Kidex expired in July and was not renewed by the Selangor government.
Earlier this year, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said that approval to begin Kidex’s construction will only be given once Putrajaya is satisfied that all conditions have been fulfilled by its highway developer.
In a statement then, the minister stated that the company has 12 months from the signing of the concession agreement on November 15, 2013, to fulfill certain stipulated conditions.
When Malay Mail Online contacted the developer to ask if has been granted an extension, a spokesman declined comment and directed the question to the “relevant authorities.”
The Kidex project has been rejected on three occasions by the city council as the developer failed to provide sufficient details.
Under Section 18 of the Town Country and Planning Act (TCPA), construction cannot start unless a highway fits with the MBPJ’s local plans.
Kidex is currently not incorporated into the council’s blueprint for Petaling Jaya.
Among the areas that could be affected by the project are Tropicana Mall, SS2 Mall, Rothman’s traffic lights, Section 14, Amcorp Mall, Hilton Petaling Jaya, Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, Jalan Templer roundabout, Taman Datuk Harun, Taman Medan Baru and Bandar Kinrara.
