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Open letter to MB of Selangor YB Azmin Ali on DASH – Michelle Wong Published: 30 September 2014 | Updated: 1 October 2014 4:01 AM
Dear YB Azmin Ali, Firstly, congratulations are in order on becoming our new Selangor Menteri Besar and putting together the new Selangor Exco team. It was wonderful that I read that you have decided to be people-centric and will put people’s interests above all else. You give us hope when you expressed your position to review the water deal and the controversial Kidex highway upon your appointment.
However, it is with disappointment that I realised that you have failed to mention a review also on the Damansara Shah Alam Elevated Highway (DASH), another toll edelevated highway given conditional approval without any independent Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) and Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study.
DASH has been strongly opposed by the residents of the affected neighbourhoods in Mutiara Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Desa Temuan and Kota Damansara since year 2012 when residents first found out about this proposed highway. Our ADUN, YB Elizabeth Wong and MP Sivarasa Rasiah have stated their objections to this highway running through our neighbourhoods in 2012 and have reaffirmed their opposition in a recent meeting on 10th September 2014. They have told us that they have not seen any studies done for DASH nor signed any documents in relation to DASH,which makes us even more apprehensive of the Selangor Government’s decision to give conditional approval to the project. DASH is a 20.1km, 6 lane-highway that would run right into the densely populated and developed residential neighbourhoods of Kota Damansara, Mutiara Damansara andDamansara Perdana. Prolintas has in the past listed several benefits of DASH. I would like to go through two points in particular: – “As an alternative to Persiaran Surian which has capped its capacity.” – “Rapid development along the Shah Alam and Jalan Batu Arang corridors require additional road capacity.” If Persiaran Surian is capped at its capacity with traffic from Petaling Jaya, then there should be a solution to reduce the number of cars on the road, which is what the current MRT construction is about. DASH, which links Shah Alam to LDP, will add to the congestion. Since Persiaran Surian also links to LDP, more cars means more backlogged traffic going into Persiaran Surian. Prolintas’ claims, as it stands, are unsubstantiated and could very well make the traffic worse for PJ residents. Even the Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said in a public statement on November 30,2013 that he cannot guarantee that DASH would be "be a total solution as there will still be bottlenecks along certain stretches. The first toll plaza, especially, will have a bottleneck. The second bottleneck will be entry into the city and out during peak hours.” Aside from the potential traffic problems Shah Alam traffic will bring to PJ, the 6-lane elevated highway will generate noise and dust pollution that will affect the health of residents living along the highway corridor and possibly diminish the value of properties there. For many of us, the houses and apartment units that we have in Mutiara Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Desa Temuan and Kota Damansara are the only ones we can afford. Suffice to say, DASH does not bring any benefits to the residents in Damansara Perdana, Mutiara Damansara and Kota Damansara. We hope you will not be supporting thisproposed RM4.18 billion highway that is detrimental to a large segment of residents in Petaling Jaya. The only benefit I see from this highway is to property developers in Shah Alam trying to cash in on the more popular and profitable commercial sites in PJ to increase the value of their properties and sales, and many housing projects there have started advertising this highway as a sure thing. Having all these elevated highways like DASH will massacre PJ. We will be paying the price of this over-development of highways in more ways than one. By then, it might be too late. I am not a lawmaker. I am not a politician or anybody with a title. I am just a Selangorian, a PJ resident, a middle-class professional and a mother. And yes, I live in one of the affected neighbourhoods. I care for the city I live in and I worry forthe future it is going into. I urge that you, YB Azmin and the whole Selangor Exco and government to not trade our environment and our safety for this elevated highway. If a highway cannot benefit all affected by it, then do not build it. I am expressing my hope in you that you will review this highway as part of your review of the deals you have inherited in your appointment. Do not bring DASH into our neighbourhoods. We do not want DASH at our doorsteps. Dash the DASH Highway before it dashes our homes, safety and environment. Fulfill the PR manifesto to abolish tolled highways and improve public transportation. We are not against development, but development should never be done for the benefit of one group while at the expense of another. Also, where is the governance and transparency of these approvals? We did not elect a government to appear to look different but is the same. We elected a government who will dare bring and make changes. Be this government. We place our hopes in you. I personally invite you, YB Azmin, to come and visit us residents in Damansara Perdana and see for yourself if this alignment makes any sense to you and if any of you supporting the highway could picture yourself living with an elevated highway just metres from your doorway. – September 30, 2014. * Michelle Wong is a resident of Damansara Perdana. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.c ... thash.auaF4CiN.dpuf
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Post time 1-10-2014 02:02 PM
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Business and residential areas in Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Homes will be badly affected by the construction of the DASH highway. — Picture by Zuraneeza ZulkifliPETALING JAYA, Sept 30 ― The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) moved today to repeal amendments to the city’s plans following public concerns over a number of issues, including the construction of a new elevated highway.
Last edited by munchkin on 1-10-2014 02:20 PM 
Post time 1-10-2014 07:37 PM
