We, the residents of Ara Damansara along Jalan PJU 1A/4 wish to object the LOCATION of the current proposed Mosque project on Lot PT 35593 (H.S.D. 306636), Mukim Damansara, Daerah Petaling, approved by MBPJ. We have grave concerns on the traffic impact of the proposed Mosque on adjacent roads and the surrounding condominium communities, based on the following reasons:

1. The current site for the Mosque is closely surrounded by high-rise condominiums with no buffer zone/land in between buildings. As such, we view that places of worship of any faith will be highly disruptive to the nearby communities.

2. The traffic impact assessment conducted for the Mosque project did not capture the full extent of the rapidly growing traffic volume from existing and upcoming residential (estimated at 2,678 units residential alone) not including the rest of the commercial developments in the same area.

3. The traffic from surrounding roads like Jln Lapangan Terbang Subang and Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong are bound to flow into Jln PJU 1A/4, on which the proposed Mosque will be located, to bypass the above congestion-prone roads. This will surely aggravate the currently heavily congested traffic in the area even on normal days and hours, particularly at the T-junction near the proposed Mosque site.

4. The resident demographic profile of the surrounding vicinity mainly comprises people of other faiths and located far from the nearest Muslim-majority communities. As it stands, there are 6 suraus and 4 mosques in and nearby  Ara Damansara to cater for the needs of Muslims, with Masjid Ara Damansara being the nearest and largest.

5. We have two nearby shopping malls within a few hundred meters in distant which generates thousands of cars in traffics daily from their parking lot record ( Citta Mall and Evolve Mall ) which is already adding to the already burdened traffic of the vicinity. On top of traffic which actually generates noise, we have to endure busses, delivery trucks and grabfood/foodpanda/McDonald’s rider loud motorbike noises and continuous honks daily especially weekend, not to mention the events held at parking lot that Citta mall is already conducting occasionally which may include loud hip hop dancing competitions, marathon which PA system are setup/speeches and talks are broadcast in the early hours as early as 7am and frequent warehouse sales that drives a lot of traffic to our roads.

6. We also have a sekolah kebangsaan also within few hundred meters that is contributing to both noise and another few hundred traffic of cars daily. The assembly point every morning with blaring speakers of the teachers giving long speeches and any other event noises they may have occasionally are one of the things we have been enduring.

7. The Centum by Sime Darby which is a running project which includes an upcoming auto city, hotels, more offices all within a few hundred meters to the said site of the mosque as well.

8. With all due respect, the threshold for hearing loss starts from sound at 80dB onwards. The loudspeaker of a mosque easily achieved 90 to 120dB at close distance. A 10dB increase in sound is perceived as double the loudness meaning to say a 90db would sound twice as loud as 80dB. Taking into account of vibration and echo due to design and proximity, Ara Tre which is built directly in front of the Mosque, Urbana which is immediately beside the mosque and also the built up of the Lanai units of Puncak Nusa Kelana, it’s designed which uses louvers door rather than a sealed tight glass door/wall which means there is no way the units can block any single sound ( even just regular talking sound ) from outside together with the echo it traps within unless each unit spends on their own, renovation costs to build another glass door frame layer to manage sound from their surroundings.
 

We fully understand and respect the need for a place of worship for Muslims in the area, as part of the developmental requirements of the neighbourhood. However, I wish that MBPJ would be able to locate a more suitable plot of land (as compared to the current one) for the proposed Mosque. This is highly critical to ensure a sustainable traffic condition for the neighbourhood. We believe MBPJ’s approval on the project could have overlooked the fundamental traffic impact on the vicinity, which would be severe and irreversible if the project proceeds ahead. At the same time, we also believe that MBPJ did not do sufficient site survey to understand the surrounding design of each condominiums ( Puncak Nusa Kelana for instant has a design that is almost impossible to block even soft sound into their units ) which we urge MBPJ or any authorities to take a trip to visit these mentioned units to see for yourself the impact of any form of sound from surroundings to residents here, these designs by the developers which has been there for years long. To really make the kempen peduli rakyat living it's real actionable meaning. 

This vicinity is “overdeveloped” in our humble opinion and the existing development by private developer are already questionable as in to why are they approved in the first place. There is no way this particular area can endure another development that is bound to garner more activities and traffic which will destroy this area in tmosqueotality, any kind of development at all be it commercial, religious or residential. The plot ratio currently is very very worrying and unwise.

Should MBPJ/relevant authorities relocate this inappropriate location for a mosque, we HAPPILY participate and contribute together to the fund for the building of the mosque at the right location.