SERDANG, 24 MAY: Residents of Damansara, Petaling Jaya and Puchong are advised to give a chance to listen to an explanation from the authorities before objecting the Kinrara Damansara Expressway(KIDEX) project.

Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that he has instructed KIDEX, Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM), Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), and State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN) to provide more information to residents regarding the construction of the highway.

He said, a dialogue between him and the residents will only be held after the explanation sessions were conducted in an orderly and successful manner.

“With these detailed explanations by the authorities, I hope they (residents) will start to understand more about our intentions and the steps that we will take. If the hearing is done in an orderly and responsible manner, then I will be ready to meet residents who still feel that the highway does not benefit them.”

“There is no need to meet the Chief Minister before attending the briefing because I do not intend to organize a dialogue repeatedly,” he said after attending the Selangor Foundation of Educational Excellence Awards at the Banquet Hall of University Putra Malaysia (UPM), here.

Abdul Khalid said, many residents have issued statements with distorted facts regarding the highway construction and this might cause misunderstanding.

He also hopes all questions and problems regarding the highway could be solved within a three-month period.

“I could have approached the matter with a hands-off attitude by saying the previous government planned for this highway, but that is a negative attitude, so I vow to solve this issue. Do give a chance to the planning unit to provide a solution because if we do not attempt to listen, we cannot solve the problem.

“I am giving a three-month time frame to find a solution because the delay in the project is due to the objection by residents, but if they are made up of only 20 people, then we will choose to provide the highway for the convenience of the rest of the residents,” he said.

Abdul Khalid also informed that SPAD were instructed to submit a few suggestions of public transportations such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) within the area.
The KIDEX Highway is expected to complete before 2020 with the cost of RM2.2 billion and will be connecting the up north intersection of Damansara-New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) with Kinrara Township down south.