KUALA LUMPUR: As time runs out for the developer of the Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex) to start on the highway, its opponents want Putrajaya to deny the company extra time.

They believe that an extension for the developer to meet the conditions for a full approval will not produce data that would convince residents, the city council and elected representatives to accept the RM2.42 billion project.

Also, they believe that in the one year that has already been given to the developer — Kidex Sdn Bhd — to seek city council approval, the company has failed to meet some conditions that have been set by Putrajaya.

The deadline for the company to meet those conditions is this Saturday.

One of these conditions was for the public in affected areas to accept the project, said anti-Kidex group leader, Selve Sugumaran Perumal.

But currently, some 22 residential groups have said they have not been consulted by the company, he said.

“At almost every level, from residents to city councillors, the answer has been no, no, no towards the project.

“So why should the federal government suddenly say yes? Why do we need an extension?” said Selve Sugumaran to The Malaysian Insider.

In Nov 15 last year, Putrajaya signed a concession agreement with Kidex Sdn Bhd to develop the 14.9km elevated expressway, the country’s most expensive highway to date.

But actual construction of the project were to only begin if the company had been able to satisfy certain conditions including getting public feedback for the project and getting funding for it, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof had said.

A full go-ahead from Putrajaya would only be given if the company was able to fulfil those conditions within 12 months, said Fadillah.

It was reported that the company had applied for an extension but the source declined to reveal the reasons for the application.

Selve Sugumaran believes that the company has also failed to get funding due to negative publicity and because it would be financially unsustainable.

“Kidex’s own TIA (traffic impact assessment) says that in 10 years from the date of completion, the highway will be jammed up.

“But in that time, the concession agreement for the LDP (Damansara-Puchong Expressway) will expire and that highway will be toll free.”

Kidex is supposed to offer an alternative route to the LDP for people to travel from Puchong in the south of the Klang valley to Bandar Utama in the north.

Selve Sugumaran said if both highways were to be congested by then, motorists would choose to travel on the toll-free highway rather than take the one that had tolls.

The elevated expressway will tower over homes, schools and businesses in densely populated central Petaling Jaya as it winds its way from Kinrara to Bandar Utama.

Petaling Jaya residents have banded together to try and stop the project, which they claim will worsen already clogged roads, risk the safety of schoolchildren and pollute their neighbourhoods.

Kidex Sdn Bhd has said that once ready in four years’ time, it would reduce travel time between Damansara and Kinrara by about 25%. The company also claimed that the journey time from Puchong to Petaling Jaya could be cut by 50%. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 11, 2014.