The Say No to SUKE (SNTS) group has received a letter of support from Ampang Member of Parliament YB Zuraida Kamaruddin to obtain all the relevant documents pertaining to the Sungai Besi Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) project from concessionaire Prolintas.

The letter was provided in response to a memorandum from SNTS to the Selangor government.

“We wish to express our thanks to YB Zuraida for responding to the rakyat within seven working days. Although the response does not include any of the requested documents, at the minimum we have a letter from our esteemed YB endorsing us to be allowed access to those documents,” said SNTS chairperson Agos Hassan Ashari.

Agos Hassan added that the letter would help the group engage Prolintas to release the documentation on the SUKE highway. SNTS had formally requested for 12 official documents pertaining to the highway project on Oct 29 during a meeting with YB Zuraida. Among the requested documents were the Environmental Impact Assessment Report, Traffic Impact Assessment Report and the Stakeholder Engagement Plan.

SNTS maintains that the public (especially those living along the highway alignment) were not duly and properly consulted and the project cannot and should not proceed in line with Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali’s many conditions for highway projects to be approved in Selangor.

This failure to consult stakeholders in a transparent and accountable manner has also prompted SNTS to prepare a report that will be filed with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam). The group is taking this initiative in acknowledgement of Suhakam’s stand on another highway project known as the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) that has since been cancelled.

Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam was previously quoted as follows: “Any project which involves the community, it is the duty of corporate organisations to seek free, prior informed consent, failing which would be a breach of human rights.”