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PETALING JAYA (Jan 28): Petaling Jaya residents want to be given more time to study the state transport master plan due to concerns over its impact on their neighbourhoods.
“This is the first time we are hearing about this masterplan. We need time to study it. Only then we can find what is missing or the things that could possibly go wrong,” said engineer and the head of the Kawasan Rukun Tetangga SS17 residents’ association (RA) A.B. Naicker.
“How can we grasp this entire RM62 billion plan in a 20-minute presentation? I think it is a bit silly.
Naicker felt that if more time was allocated to the people to study the plan in detail, particularly those who possess specific skills, then more practical questions or solutions could be achieved.
“We are afraid of congestion. Our concern is that Putra Heights is the last station at the end of the LRT line,” said Adrian Looi, president of Laman Putra RA.
“These lines run through congested areas, Persiaran Kewajipan or Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong, for example. So once the LRTs are up and running, there is sure to be more congestion.
“Let’s face it, KLites are like the Californians. We love our cars and the chances are we haven’t used public transport since we were young. So, this mentality combined with the arrival of the LRT stations, it could cause more traffic.
“Prasarana wants to build residential buildings on top of certain stations. Given transit oriented development (TOD) guidelines, there will be less space for parking, which will add on to the congestion problem.”
Looi added that the logic of constructing housing above railway stations was to encourage the use of public transport. However, he argued that those who actually purchased these apartments would come from the middle income group, so one parking space would not be sufficient. Thus, they would have to park outside their complex, which would inevitably create more congestion.
The Tuesday dialogue session at the 3K complex was attended by a number of representatives from various RAs in Selangor, councillors and local politicians, including Subang Jaya Municipal Council president Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan, vice-president Abdullah Marjunid, Serdang assemblyman Noor Hanim Ismail, Kinrara assemblyman Ng Sze Han, Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming, and representatives of SPAD and Prasarana.
The dialogue was organised primarily to gain feedback from the RAs across the board about the plan, which the state government is looking to implement moving forward towards 2035. -- The Malaysian Insider
