[May 2014]

By: Terence Siew, resident of PJ, RA Lorong Utara.

As representatives of the Residents Association of Lorong Utara Section 52, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, I and my fellow residents were extremely upset by the speech that MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim gave in announcing the 2035 Selangor Structural Plan.

As residents of Section 52 we will be directly affected by the planned Kidex highway as it passes just metres from many of our homes. The MB said, “The state wants Kidex to take into account the views and objections of the residents towards the project.”

If that is true, Mr MB, please listen carefully. Petaling Jaya is a high-density residential area, which many of us have lived in for tens of years. The Kidex highway threatens our community, our way of life, our health and halve of our properties.

Contrary to the unsubstantiated claims by Kidex Sdn Bhd, this highway will choke Jalan Utara to a standstill with its improper design of exit ram that has NO direct linkage to Federal Highway but have to pass our PJ road - Jalan Utara. As Jalan Utara,Jalan Timur and Jalan Timur shall be turned into a big roundabout , a one-way street loop.

As this loop shall be operating at near saturation levels during daily peak hours, choking this circle at ANY point will caused the whole road circle to FAIL- drastically. A roundabout fails when traffic is near saturation. Cars cannot move out of the circle as more cars try to enter. As Jalan Utara is a major link for traffic in PJ exiting to Federal Highway, the traffic backlog can stretch for kilometres back onto Jalan Semangat. How can they allow this to happen?

Many of us, especially the young and the elders, experience respiratory problems during the weeks of haze, annually.

Do not allow Kidex to spew toxic exhaust and condemn us to respiratory mask and medication 12 months a year.

To make this matter worse, overhead highways cannot accommodate mature trees - centre, left shoulder or right shoulder. This highway requires chopping down of hundreds of decade of mature trees that cleans our air - our very own green lungs in our city !

According to the Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA) many locations along the planned  route  already exceed recommended safe noise limits, and yet Kidex believes it is perfectly acceptable to add to this.

We urge Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the state exco members, the mayor and councilors of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to reject the Kidex highway, and consider a tunnel which has little environmental/ traffic impact or give us real 21st century sustainable transport solutions.