Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim made a statement recently (June 21, Malay Mail) that everyone appears to be “jumping the gun” when commenting about the Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

He goes on to say that the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) has yet to finalise the proposal for the highway alignment.

Khalid should be reminded that it was his administration that approved Kidex in principle on Feb 23, 2012 and subsequently published a land acquisition gazette affecting 3,784 land lots on July 31, 2013.

To demonstrate just how hypocritical Khalid was when he suggested that the public discussion on Kidex is premature, let’s take a look at the part of the Land Acquisition Act that was used to publish the gazette:

Section 4. Whenever the State Authority is satisfied that any land in any locality in the State is likely to be needed for any of the purposes referred to in section 3 a notification in Form A shall be published in the Gazette. (emphasis mine)

Note that the state government has to be satisfied that the land is needed for the purposes described in Section 3, and for Kidex, the only applicable clauses are (a) public purpose; or (b) beneficial to the economic development of Malaysia.

In layperson terms, that translates to the need to cite studies and documentation to justify the project. Since the Selangor government had not received a traffic impact assessment study or a finalised alignment when the gazette was published, Khalid has indirectly admitted that his administration jumped the gun with the land acquisition gazette.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner James Nayagam has rightly pointed out that the government’s first priority is to protect the rights and interests of the people. Just how can the Selangor government demonstrate this by publishing a land acquisition gazette and later tell the public that there are no documents to justify that gazette?

In making that statement, Khalid has demonstrated two traits that the public normally associate with the Barisan Nasional coalition; hypocrisy and arrogance.

As for Pakatan Rakyat, the coalition itself has not taken a stand on the issue; only a handful of elected representatives have voiced their disapproval of the project and criticised Khalid.
Pointing out the obvious

Even then, the assemblypersons and MPs have mainly attempted to shift blame to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government by stating that it is a BN crony project (see: http://goo.gl/Pnml9b). Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Sherlock.

The public can tell it is a BN project. What the public cannot stomach is why the Selangor government appears to be aiding and abetting the BN government in pushing this project through?

Remember, the publication of the land acquisition on July 31, 2013 gazette was BEFORE the MHA signed the concession agreement with Kidex Sdn Bhd on Nov 15, 2013. Can Khalid please explain why he was using state powers to freeze ordinary people’s homes to advance this BN crony project before BN itself had even signed the concession agreement?

And can Pakatan please tell us what it is going to do instead of constantly trying to shift the blame to BN. We want a clear stand on what the Selangor government intends to do. If Selangor intends to push this project through against the will of the rakyat, I will remind them that the project would still be under construction come the next general election in 2018.

If this Kidex project proceeds, every highway column that is driven into the heart of Petaling Jaya will be a constant reminder of the Pakatan Rakyat’s betrayal of their manifesto.

 
MAK KHUIN WENG is a committee member of ‘Say No To Kidex’.