Residents expected to get more detailed information about the MRT project, but representatives from MRT project delivery partner Gamuda-MMC and project owner Prasarana did not turn up.
Kajang assemblyperson Lee Kim Sin said a general manager from Gamuda had promised to come to respond to the people’s queries but cancelled at the last minute.Not wanting to disappoint, Lee and Kajang councillor P Narayanan presented the limited information they had received from the authorities and attended to concerns raised.
Most of the public stayed to listen to their briefing, but almost half of the crowd left after the first dialogue ended.
Residents raised their concern about land acquisition and traffic congestion during construction.
Many also lamented a lack of detailed and accurate information on how the MRT would affect them.
“I went to the local council to get more information during lunch time a week ago, but the officer in charge wasn’t there,” Rosalind Ng, 64, told Selangor Times.
The MRT public display at seven locations, including the Kajang Municipal Council, is only available during office hours from Feb 14 to May 14.
Ng operates a clinic on Jalan Sulaiman in Kajang town, close to Jalan Besar, where 39 shopowners have been notified their lands are likely to have to make way for the MRT line.
“My father opened the clinic during Independence time,” said Ng, who wanted to make sure that her clinic would not be affected by the MRT line.
She was given a fright when the officer in charge at the MRT display at the local council confused her land lot number and wrongly informed her that her clinic would be affected.
The officer also told her to attend the public dialogue to get more information. Ng said she tried to email her feedback and query to feedback@kvmrt.com.my but had not received any response.
Meanwhile, Kajang assemblyperson Lee Kim Sin said Prasarana or Gamuda-MMC would be holding a briefing on the MRT for all elected representatives in Selangor soon.
He urged residents to send feedback to his office so that he could collate their input and share it with the state.
The state assembly is expected to discuss the MRT during its scheduled seating from March 28 to April 5.
Touted to be the new “backbone” of public transport in Klang Valley, the MRT is part of the federal government’s plan to address declining public transport usage, from 34% in 1985 to 18% in 2009.
Once completed, the MRT is expected to ease traffic congestion on Jalan Cheras and the Grand Saga Highway, according to the detailed environment impact assessment released on Feb 14.
The MRT system will be the third rail network after the Light Rail Transit and monorail. The Sg Buloh-Kajang line is the first of three MRT lines. It has 35 proposed stations along an estimated 51km-long line and is expected to cost more than RM36.6 billion.
The Land Public Transport Commission, a government agency, is supervising the project.
Selangor Times Mach 18-20, 2011
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