SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government today confirmed that the on-and-off Petaling Jaya Traffic Dispersal Link (PJD Link) highway construction project is back on the drawing board.
State Public Infrastructure and Facilities, Agricultural Modernisation and Agro-Based Industry Committee chairman Izham Hashim, however, said the decision on whether the project would be given the go-ahead was being looked into by the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES).
Izham said the Selangor government had been asked by the federal administration to review the project after the concessionaire made improvements to at least five areas along the proposed highway.
"There were improvements and changes made to five or six locations along the proposed highway.
"The mitigations made to the proposed highway look good (on paper).
"MTES is looking into the matter and will decide if the changes and improvements made to the proposed highway meet all the requirements," he said at the Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.
He was responding to an additional question from Rajiv Rishyakaran (PH-Bukit Gasing), who asked for details on the PJD Link highway construction project.
Izham said the state government had also instructed the concessionaire of the PJD Link highway construction project to carry out a fresh social impact assessment (SIA) involving the proposed locations where changes and improvements were made.
"This is the condition that we have imposed on the concessionaire of the highway project.
"They must engage and get feedback from the affected people residing in the areas where changes and improvements were made for the proposed construction of the highway through the SIA.
"We want to know if the people accept the changes and improvements made," he said.
Izham told the House that the state government had rejected and wanted the construction of the project to be reviewed following the high number of objections from the people, which was reflected in the SIA.
It was reported that the federal government had, on April 17, decided not to proceed with the PJD Link highway construction project after the concessionaire failed to meet six of 11 conditions.
The project, estimated to cost more than RM2 billion, was approved in April 2022 by the previous federal government under former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob
The 14.9km expressway, which was supposed to connect the Damansara–NKVE interchange of the New Klang Valley Expressway to Bandar Kinrara, aims to reduce the travel time between Damansara and Kinrara by 25 per cent.