LETTER | PJD Link - fairness is in the process, MB

LETTER | Yesterday, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari was quoted as saying that it would be “unfair” for critics of the proposed Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway to not give the project developer a fair hearing.

The menteri besar then proceeds to disparage the critics as not being rational because, "Who does not want to stay in a calm, quiet, traffic-free area? But if we live like that while at the same time the entire transportation ecosystem is disrupted? We have to be fair to everybody.”

Well, if you want the residents to be fair, why don't you or the local elected state assemblypersons actually force the developer to adhere to some fair ground rules first.

Firstly, your predecessor Mohamed Azmin Ali made the following pledge when he cancelled the Kidex highway project:

“Because not a single condition was fulfilled by Kidex by the time of the deadline, the Selangor government hereby announces that the Kidex project is cancelled,” Mohamed Azmin said in a statement."

Among the conditions set by Selangor was for independent traffic and social impact assessments to be conducted in order to prove that the project would benefit not only road users but also those living along the alignment as well as the negatives of the project. The state wanted the concessionaire to reveal the toll rate throughout the concession period, including any hikes in between.

Now, you expect Petaling Jaya residents to be compliant and listen to the developer when these conditions have not been fulfilled, as you admitted.

On what basis, then, do you want the people to judge the project's merits if there are no actual legal plans and agreements to be studied for actual proper consideration?

No, what you are suggesting right now is that the people listen to a taklimat, a briefing on the project.

That is a one-sided exchange, and worse, it is just a bunch of promises anyone can make that the residents cannot hold anyone accountable to as it is not in black and white.

The system for justice is the process in which you reach a decision and you are asking people to make a decision without following due process.

Of course, the residents are rightly upset by the project proposal which has no paperwork attached while the politicians smear them for being critical of the project.

You know, long before you came to power, these residents were here building up the city of Petaling Jaya to what it is today.

It was their tax monies, hard work and sacrifices that made Petaling Jaya prosperous and it was their vote that put you politicians in power by an overwhelming majority because the previous BN administration espoused a demeaning disregard for the local constituents' welfare.

Now you come here to tell the residents to be fair and listen to a developer that wants to take away their homes and their peace and quiet, and you tell it to them by smearing and belittling their opposition to the project when they are very well within their rights to object based on the complete lack of any sort of documentation.

The menteri besar is supposedly the neutral party in this whole exercise of the project's approval. You said so yourself that the government must "[...] find a balance between the state government’s intentions, development goals and the residents’ objections.”

Instead, what you have done here is anything but fair and extremely prejudicial to the interest of the residents of Petaling Jaya.

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