The construction of the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) is important to the state as it is to be part of an integrated traffic network together with five new highways and 23 existing ones.

Hence, Selangor Menteri Bedar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has said that he has instructed the state economic planning unit (Upen) to study the construction of the six new highways and to devise a public transportation system for the state.

Besides Kidex ( right ), the other planned highways are the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Expressway (Suke), Serdang Kinrara Putrajaya Expressway (Skip), Eastern Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE),  Lebuhraya Damansara Shah Alam (Dash) and West Coast Expressway.

Khalid said Kidex, which has courted much protest from residents since it was announced, was to be the solution to traffic congestion along the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) and the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE).

He added that Malaysian Highway Authority planned for all three to be linked, along with the Skip highway.

“If one is not built, the other cannot be,” he said during a press conference in Shah Alam today.

However, the menteri besar stressed that to date, approval for the highway has only been given on principle.

Abdul Khalid said that land acquisition and necessary permits will not be accorded until it meets all terms and conditions such as providing the environmental impact assessment report, traffic impact assessment report and social impact assessment report, which in turn must all be accepted by the state.

Minutes declassified

Meanwhile, Khalid also said the state executive council today had declassified the minutes of their meeting in February 2012, which gave Kidex "approval-in-principle."

 

This was in response to a request from Petaling Jaya resident Chia Gek Suan, under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

 

Selangor exco Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi read the minutes of the said meeting and the conditions of the approval.

 

According to the minutes, the Selangor government had made the following stand:

1. Privatisation should put the priority or concerns of Selangorians first.

2. Costs shall be publicly disclosed and not kept private.

3. Cost also must consider 'international risk and return reward.' 

Furthermore, the minutes said that the exco had put a caveat that for the people's sake, the concession agreement has an early termination clause to ensure that the concession did not reap extraordinary profits from the highway.

 

"Under this clause, if the concessionaire achieves profit targets in advance of the expiry of the concession period, the contract can be terminated earlier," Khalid said when asked to explain.

 

"This is the first highway with such an agreement," he added.

 

The report also revealed that the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) will have to brief the residents on the proposed Kidex.