The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has implemented a controversial One-Way Loop traffic system (OWL) in Section 52 Petaling Jaya since October 2014. The estimated cost for this project was reported as RM23.8 million.

Two months after implementing the exercise, MBPJ organised a ‘feedback’ session on the OWL on Dec 9, 2014 at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre. Some 1,000 residents turned up for the feedback session was highly critical of the OWL due to the lack of safety for pedestrians and the lack of compliance with road design standards that makes the road system dangerous for motorists as well.

Despite promising to look into the complaints and a pledge to conduct a proper polling exercise on the project after the feedback session, the project is now going into the second phase without the aforementioned survey.

We would like to point out that the initial statements by MBPJ showed that the OWL was meant to be a three month trial period, meaning the road system would be reverted (note: it would not be a trial if it the system could not be reverted).

We would also like to point out that during the December 2014 feedback session, MBPJ pledged to conduct a proper survey poll to get feedback on the OWL.

It is now evident that the statements and promises made were misleading and not entirely reflective of the actual intentions of MBPJ. We feel that there is an urgent need for the councillors and Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Rajiv Rishyakaran to explain matters clearly.

Due to the lack of transparency, we - the undersigned residents of Petaling Jaya - have initiated a Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment request to MBPJ to release any and all documentation and/or meeting minutes related to the OWL.

This application was done on March 18, 2015, which means MBPJ has until April 17, 2015 to formally reply to us.

As residents and stakeholders (who were also part of the Say No to Kidex movement), it is our right to know exactly what sort of studies were done, design specifications, the architects and engineers involved in designing and approving the designs and the councillors who debated and approved this project.

MBPJ should have no qualms in releasing the schematic and meeting minutes for this government project as there is already a similar precedent. In September of 2013, Rajiv Rishyakaran applied for schematics and documents pertaining to the Section 13 redevelopment projects and had his application approved within a month.

DR ANTHONY LAWRENCE, MAK KHUIN WENG, BC ANG, RACHEL HO and WONG WANQING are residents of Petaling Jaya.