It was reported in the media that on Thursday last week, the Works Minister, Datuk Fadhillah Yusof dismissed claims that the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) will not be able to reduce traffic congestion in Petaling Jaya and Puchong by 20% to 30%.
He argued, “our research supports that estimate.” Instead, Fadillah questioned the research results released by the DAP state assemblymen on Wednesday, which stated the Kidex project would only be able to reduce traffic congestion by 2% or 3%.
The Works Minister also added that all the reports were presented to the Selangor government’s economic council and municipal councils and that everybody could have a look at them.
We call upon Datuk Fadhillah Yusof not to mislead the public just because the Federal Government did not do its homework and signed the 48-year Kidex concession.
Even the CEO of Kidex, Dr Shaharizuan Shafiei was only brave enough to claim in his own statement on Thursday that Kidex will cut the traffic in 16 local roads by 20 to 30% upon completion and 23 local roads by 20-30% from the year 2028.
What Dr Shaharizuan had failed to highlight was the fact that their preliminary Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) report covered 43 roads, where certain roads may see an increase in traffic by up to 233%!
The preliminary TIA report presented to the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) indicated that major roads such as Jalan Bukit Jalil Indah will face a projected increase of 233%, Jalan Changgai (109%), Jalan Sultan (58%) and Jalan Barat (35%).
Hence when the impact on all 43 roads were taken into account, there was only a projected 5.8% and 3% overall reduction in traffic for 2020 and 2028 respectively.
These figures cited by the DAP assemblymen were not plucked off the sky or produced on our own, but are extracted directly from the very documents which Datuk Fadhillah claimed were presented to MBPJ.
Hence we will like to challenge the Works Minister to present his “research” which allegedly “supports the estimate” of an overall reduction of 20% – 30% in traffic in Petaling Jaya and Puchong. If Datuk Fadhillah has problems reading and understanding the preliminary TIA, we will be more than happy to bring the calculator to his office in Putrajaya.
Instead of defending the Kidex, Works Minister should not instead question the rationale for the RM2.42 billion concession if the highway is only able to reduce traffic in the 2 major townships by only 5.8%.
In addition, if Datuk Fadhillah really places the interest of the rakyat ahead of the concessionaires, then he should immediately reveal the toll-rates to be charged and the rate of return for the highway company as signed in the concession agreement.
Therefore the Federal Government or the concessionaire must provide nothing less than a full disclosure, both on the current as well as future TIA, and the toll rate as well as rate of return for the highway investment. If not, DAP Selangor will demand and endorse the complete and immediate suspension of all processes by the Selangor state government in granting the necessary approvals for the highway in the state.