The Selangor government has vowed to ensure stakeholder involvement in all concession agreements directly impacting the rakyat.

Vowing a transparent administration, Menteri Besar Azmin Ali said secrecy is not a privilege for governments, but rather a “source of anxiety”.

“It will only breed corruption and abuse of power in a particular management.

“We believe that all agreements with concessionaires, which involve the rakyat’s interests, should be understood by stakeholders before they are signed,” Azmin said yesterday

Speaking at a corporate integrity pledge signing ceremony for Selangor State Develpment Corporation subsidaries yesterday, he added that a democratic society demands an intelligent and effective government.

His statement comes after the residents’ movement against the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) accused Azmin of making use of them to oust former MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The 'Say No To Kidex' group had accused Khalid’s administration of not disclosing information sought on the Kidex concession agreement under the Freedom of Information (Selangor) Enactment 2011.

Azmin’s statement that Kidex will be allowed if it meets all regulations has also raised the ire of residents.

I didn’t use Kidex issue to topple Khalid

However, he told Bernama yesterday that all views on Kidex will be considered.

He also denied that he had used the anti-Kidex movement to garner support to topple Khalid.

"The construction of any highway has to benefit the people and users," Azmin is quoted as saying.

In a related matter, Damansara residents affected by the Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (Dash), urged the Works Ministry to review the concession agreement as there was no public consultation.

“Since October 2013 till today, none of the resident groups, associations and condominium management bodies representing more than 15,000 people has been approached or consulted,” said 'Say No To Dash' representative Michelle Wong.

In a statement, Wong said the elected representatives also confirmed that they have not seen any approval for the highway from the state government.

She said “over a thousand residents” from Damansara Perdana have also opposed the Petaling Jaya 2 Local Plan (RTPJ 2), which is inferred to include changes to make way for the highway.

Even so, Wong said, this should not be considered as a public consultation for Dash.

“Hence, we are now questioning whether the proposed Dash project will still go ahead with full approval, even without fulfilling the condition precedents, which include public consultation and acceptance.”