Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today urged those for and against the Kinrara-Damansara Highway, to listen to each other as that is the only way forward in the RM2 billion conundrum.

 

He told Petaling Jaya mayor Alinah Ahmad to bravely listen to opposing views, when she expressed worry over last Friday's outburst at a first attempt at a town hall meet between residents affected and the project’s developer, Kidex Sdn Bhd.

At the same time, he warned that the government would not accommodate those with "extreme views" of wanting the project scrapped.

"There are some who want development and others who don't. If you are not brave enough to listen to all, you cannot be (a good planner)," Abdul Khalid ( left ) told a gathering of bureaucrats tasked to draw up Selangor's development plans for the next 20 years.

Abdul Khalid then shrugged off criticism that Pakatan does not care by not stopping the Kidex highway, which protesters said were similar to BN's crony projects which they have voted against since 2008.

"They can make a choice between BN and us. We do care very much but we cannot accommodate extreme views.

"You must learn to listen, that is being fair to everybody," he told reporters in Subang Jaya later when asked what was his response to angry Petaling Jaya residents.

Abdul Khalid then said he would now talk to Kidex, to "adopt and adapt" according to the demands of customers and have another town hall meeting.

The project, to be completed in 2018, already has federal government backing and state approval-in-principle.

The inability to accommodate different views, Abdul Khalid said, reflects an immature civil society.

In an attempt to differentiate from BN in GE13, Pakatan Rakyat had boldly promised to abolish highway tolls as concessionaires who built and operated them earned extraordinary profits.

Market forces should apply, not welfare considerations

But Abdul Khalid said market forces should apply here, not welfare considerations which could otherwise bankrupt the state.

“There is no free lunch,” he said, spewing an economic idiom to explain why Kidex was not entirely unreasonable, although some say it may end up as the most expensive highway in per km measures.

“If it’s all free, the state will be paying for it,” he added.

Kidex themselves would also be subject to such economics, he said.

“There is nothing to worry about because Kidex also will not do it if their customers don’t want to use their facility,” he said.

A growing protest movement under ‘Say No to Kidex’ had cited how the project was approved without proper social and environmental studies. They argued that trees would be chopped and property values devalued and old heritage sites destroyed, if the skyway goes ahead.

Abdul Khalid said he had to consider the good of all Selangorians and asked the anti-Kidex faction, which included some Pakatan state assemblypersons, to give PJ City Council (MBPJ) a break.

“Our priority is to have a public transport system that is efficient and orderly,” Abdul Khalid said.

The Kidex project’s backers promise that it could reduce traffic congestion in the area by 30 percent.