A mere two days after what was considered a chaotic meeting between KiDEx Sdn Bhd and the residents of Petaling Jaya, an article was published on Malaysiakini entitled “Kidex shows Pakatan reps losing control of gov’t” quoting Say No To Kidex (SNTK) secretary David Yoong.
The question of Pakatan Rakyat losing control of its government does not arise at all. We would like to reiterate that the meeting held last Friday was not, in any way, an MBPJ or a Selangor State Government townhall meeting as evidenced by the following facts.
- The invitation to the meeting was issued and organised by Kidex. This has been consistently identifying the meeting as a Kidex-initiated event and not that of MBPJ’d or the State Government.
- The emcee of the event was the Strategic Communications Director of Kidex, Datin Hasnah Abd Rahman. She is not and has not been a representative of MBPJ or the State Government.
- MBPJ Councillor Ir. Lee Suet Sen, Tuan Haji Ghazali & Mr Tang, as a MBPJ councillor party whips had issued a statement, which he himself read during the meeting, clarifying the meeting as that of Kidex’ and not that of MBPJ.
Pakatan Parliamentarians, State Assemblymen, and Councillors alike were invited to the event the same way that the public were, through a letter issued on the 14th of May, two days before the meeting.
The confusion stemmed from the words uttered by Datin Hasnah during her introductory speech wherein she said the meeting was part of the “…due process in the implementation of Kidex into the Selangor State Structural Plan.” This was immediately met by objections from residents and MBPJ councillors alike.
This claim was made by an employee of Kidex Sdn Bhd, and not by any government official, let alone by the right department concerned with the State Structural Plan, Jabatan Perancang Bandar & Desa, which was not even present at the Friday’s meet. Thus the question of Pakatan Rakyat losing control does not arise at all.
In addition, there was no mention of amending the Selangor State Structural Plan to incorporate Kidex during the meeting. This was the first time that the State Structural Plan was ever raised by Kidex in relation to the highway.
Any such consultation for the purposes of amending the state structural plan should come from Jabatan Perancang Bandar & Desa themselves.
Finally, I would also like to reiterate that Kidex has yet to make any formal application to MBPJ, and along with that has yet to justify to MBPJ on the purported benefits this highway brings. Kidex has yet to even convince MBPJ whether this highway will actually bring improvement to the roads and residents of Petaling Jaya. It is for this very reason that MBPJ councillors were right to not agree to MBPJ facilitating a town hall meeting on Kidex.