The Selangor government’s decision to cancel the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) is prompting critics of another planned highway in Selangor to demand the same.

The ‘Say No to Dash’ (SNTD) group says this is because the same pre-conditions were set for the Damansara Shah Alam Highway (Dash) and yet the Works Ministry approved Dash on Jan 25.

The group said it had written to Selangor MB Azmin Ali for a meeting on this on Feb 4 but has yet to hear back.

Azmin had on Dec 16 promised to raise SNTD's concerns over the highway running through densely populated neighbourhoods with the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), it said.

It also urged the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and elected representatives of the affected areas Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong and Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah to take up the case.

Wong (left) is also Selangor executive council member in charge of tourism and environment.

SNTD said Dash failed to meet condition of a public consultation with affected residents, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and traffic impact assessment (TIA).

SNTD says the EIA and TIA had “a number of flaws” and did not justify why the highway must go through Damansara Perdana.

"We urge the MB to decisively stand with his people and engage with Prolintas and the Works Ministry to realign the Damansara Segment away from Damansara Perdana to protect the safety of the people under his governance.

"This will set the right tone as precedent for future development projects to not run closely through densely populated neighbourhoods and endanger lives and homes." 

Six highways

Prolintas is the concessionaire for the Dash, a 20.1 kilometre three-land highway passing through Puncak Perdana in Shah Alam, Puncak Perdana, Alam Suria, Denai Alam, Kampung Melayu Subang, Jalan Sungai Buloh, Rubber Research Institute Malaysia, Kota Damansara, Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara.

There are six new highways planned to be built Selangor – the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Expressway (Suke), Serdang Kinrara Putrajaya Expressway (Skip), Eastern Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE), Damansara Shah Alam Highway (Dash), Pantai Barat Highways (LBP) and Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

Former Selangor Menter Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in June 2014 called for a review of these six highways, before he was ousted in an internal PKR tussle.

"We have urged the Selangor Department of Town and Country Planning (SDTCP) to collaborate with the MHA to review the effectiveness of traffic dispersal," Khalid had then said.

Kidex was among the bigger issues leading up to his ouster, which led to Azmin’s appointment on September 23, 2015.

Azmin (above) today announced that Selangor will not approve Kidex, because the highway concessionaire’s failure to meet set pre-conditions by the Feb 14 deadline.

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