SHAH ALAM, 25 June: The construction of the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KIDEX) is important because it is part of five new highways to be built in the Selangor.
The Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said that the KIDEX should be the solution to the Damansara-Puchong Expressway and the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), which the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) plans to connect to the SKIP.
Apart from the KIDEX, five more new highways planned are the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Expressway (SUKE), the Serdang-Kinrara Putrajaya Expressway (SKIP), the Eastern Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE), the Damansara-Shah Alam Expressway (DASH) and the West Coast Expressway (LPB).
Abdul Khalid said that he has ordered the State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN) to study the construction of the six highways and to develop a public transport system for Selangor.
“If one is not built, another would not. The State Government is studying the impact proposal for the construction of the six new highways to be built.
“This includes plans to develop an integrated public transport system with the goal of increasing the use of public transport from 12 percent today to 50 percent by 2035,” he said after chairing the State Government Council meeting at the SUK meeting today.
However, Khalid stressed that the approval is given as a policy and the land acquisition and permits cannot happen, as well as the conditions, such as the Environmental Assessment Report, the Traffic Assessment Report and the Social Impact Report is not given or received by the state authorities.
Currently, there are 23 completed expressways and the State Government Council Meeting (MMKN) today was briefed by the Department of Town and Country Planning regarding all highway projects in Selangor which have been completed and the plans of the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA).
“MMKN has also asked the Department of Town and Country Planning to work with the MHA to review the effectiveness of the existing highways from the aspect of traffic dispersal, the impact on local development and the impact on use of public transport,” he said.
NS