DAP's Bukit Gasing state assemblyperson R Rajiv has described the chaotic Kinrara-Damansara Skyway (Kidex) meeting with the public on Friday as an "unnecessary provocation".

 

He was referring to Kidex's announcement at the event that the meeting was part of a statutory process to include the highway project in the Selangor State Structure Plan, a step necessary for the project to go ahead.

 

This was despite the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) assuring the public a day before the meeting that it had no statutory force, prompting NGO Say No to Kidex (SNTK) to question if Pakatan Rakyat councillors and state assemblyperson had  lost control  of its own government.

 

However, Rajiv ( left ) said the accusation was unfair as he, too, was puzzled as to why the event's emcee, who was a Kidex employee, had announced the meeting to be part of the statutory process when in fact it wasn't.

 

"If it was a statutory consultation... the event would be organised by the Selangor Town and Rural Planning Department and not Kidex," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

 

"It was a Kidex event, the notice was sent out by Kidex, the banners were put up by Kidex and even the emcee on that day was from Kidex.

 

'MBPJ never said it was statutory'

 

"How can a private company conduct a statutory process?" added Rajiv.

 

As such, he said the residents’ outraged reaction was “fair”.

 

Rajiv stressed that it was not MBPJ which declared the event to be a statutory consultation.

 

However, Rajiv said he was seeking clarification on why MBPJ engineering department director Ismail Shafie was present at the Kidex event, but noted he had left when it was announced to be part of the statutory process.

 

The meeting on Friday turned into pandemonium after residents there heard it was to be part of a statutory consultation for Kidex's approval and turned confrontational to abort the event.

 

Residents, largely concentrated in Petaling Jaya, are opposed to the RM2 billion elevated expressway as it will cut through the heart of their city.

 

The 14.9km expressway, aimed at easing congestion on the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP), will begin from Bukit Jalil Highway and connect to the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) in Damansara.