By Danial Dzulkifly
SHAH ALAM, July 4 — The developers of the previously axed Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link Expressway (PJD Link) have submitted a new application to the Selangor state administration featuring revised mitigation plans for the proposed alignment.
State executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Izham Hashim revealed this during today’s Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting, stating that the application is currently under review by Selangor’s public infrastructure project monitoring committee.
“The developers have presented mitigation plans for six areas that have strongly opposed the alignment of the project, especially in Petaling Jaya.
[caption id="attachment_362686" align="alignright" width="422"]
State executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Izham Hashim speaks during the 15th Selangor State Legislative Assembly session at the State Secretariat Building in Shah Alam, on July 4, 2024. — Picture by AHMAD ZAKKI JILAN/MEDIA SELANGOR[/caption]
“The state government remains firm that the developer needed to resolve issues within its alignment in Petaling Jaya, where the project faced fierce opposition.
“In the recent committee meeting, we reviewed six locations where they have introduced new mitigation measures for the alignment, which we view as reasonable. However, the matter will be brought to the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES) for further deliberations on whether the new and improved alignment will be accepted by the government,” he said in response to a question from Bukit Gasing state assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran.
Izham added that the developer must also conduct another Social Impact Assessment (SIA) exercise along the new proposed alignments and provide proper mitigation measures.
“Whatever the case may be, we have conditioned them that they still need to do the SIA for the proposed alignments so that they get the proper response from the public,” he said.
Addressing concerns about the independence of SIA consultants, the councillor assured that they carry out their duties professionally.
He said that it was due to their professional assessment that they received proper feedback on the fierce opposition to the project, especially in Petaling Jaya, in the first place.
This development came after the project had been scrapped.
On April 17, Unity Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil announced that the Cabinet had decided to cancel the PJD Link project and would not hold further discussions with the developer.
The decision came after the firm failed to fulfil several conditions precedent set out by the government.
On the same day, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari described the Federal government’s decision as timely and clarified that PJD Link was a Federal project approved by the previous administration, with tolled highways always being under the Federal government’s purview.
He also reiterated that Selangor decided to discontinue the proposal after residents’ groups’ concerns were not completely resolved.
