Selangor Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives decried the snub they received at the anti-Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) rally yesterday for not being allowed to counter allegations against them.

 

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua in a statement last night said it was regrettable that the organisers of the rally Say No to Kidex (SNTK) were instead “publicly maligning Pakatan Rakyat leaders with half-truths and lies”.

 

“Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives – Gobind Singh, R Sivarasa, Rajiv Rishyakaran, Yeo Bee Yin and myself attended the SNTK rally yesterday to listen to the voices of the people.

 

“Unfortunately certain leaders of the SNTK committee who accused Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives of telling ‘half-truths and lies’, dished out half-truths and lies themselves in the very same breath,” said Pua.

 

Residents are up in arms over what they allege to be the Selangor government’s reluctance to stop the highway that is to cut through densely populated residential areas in the heart of Petaling Jaya.

 

The tolled highway was awarded by the federal government to Umno-linked concessionaire Kidex Sdn Bhd in 2012.

 

However it has to obtain Selangor’s approval before works can proceed, and Menteri Besar Azmin Ali has set several preconditions including public disclosure of the concessions agreement and toll details, before doing so.

Pua: Nothing to approve

Pua pointed out Kidex has to date not met the conditions and is unlikely to do so.

"Until and unless Kidex is able to do so, there will be nothing for the Selangor state government to consider, and hence, nothing for the state government to approve," said Pua.

 

However, frustrated with the state and federal governments for refusing to reject the project outright, SNTK organised a rally involving several hundred residents in Petaling Jaya yesterday morning.

Pua meanwhile said Kidex’s agreement reported in the media yesterday, that they will reveal details of its highway concession agreement only to the Selangor government and not the general public was unacceptable.

 

“Hence Kidex’ ‘agreement’ to reveal its concession agreement only to the menteri besar and his legal advisors clear‎ly fell short of what is required of the concessionaire to meet the transparency and accountability standards of the state government.

 

“As such, should Kidex fail to comply to these conditions which has been formally informed to both the Malaysian Highway Authority as well as the concessionaire by the stipulated February 14 deadline, then Kidex has hammered its own nail on its coffin,” he said.

 

He urged Putrajaya to reject Kidex’ request to extend the deadline again “since it is unable to fulfil the conditions stipulated by the state and hence automatically failed to fulfil the conditions precedents of the highway concession agreement”.

 

SNTK: Why need we rally?

 

SNTK in a statement last night explained they did not give the Pakatan reps time to speak because they had confirmed their lineup of speakers earlier.

 

“We note an undertone of unhappiness in certain quarters with regards to the fact that Pakatan Rakyat representatives present were not given allocated speaking times.

 

“Let us set the record  straight on this. We had a programme and a list of speakers that confirmed ahead of time they  would speak, and none of those who confirmed were from Pakatan Rakyat,” said the group.

 

“For the record, we did not bar these representatives from speaking,” it added.

 

The group said rather than just speak out against the project, the Pakatan representatives should “fix the problem”.

 

“Why was it even necessary for SNTK/SNTD to conduct a rally to evoke a response from our duly elected representatives?” the residents group asked.

Tony Pua: A response to anti-Kidex group's grouses

SNTK statement: Groups let down by elected reps' blasé attitudes