Ara Damansara

Posted by LeeYK
Source: theStar Aug 19

THE tussle over the link between Ara Damansara and Tropicana residents rages on with the road being blocked again on Tuesday with boulders and a huge pile of sand.

The latest incident occurred three days after about 50 Ara Damansara residents took the initiative to patch up a metre-wide trench dug at either end of the gravel road to enable motorists to use the link to avoid heavy traffic at the FAS and Megah Mas tunnels.

The relief was short-lived when several residents saw a man and a security guard unloading a truck- load of sand onto Jalan PJU1A/1 to cut off the link again. The witnesses lodged a police report and the pile of sand was flattened by residents with help from Petaling Jaya city councillor Kandeah Subramaniam.

MBPJ engineering department director Cheremi Tarman and representatives from the developer tasked to build the road visited the site yesterday.

The developer’s representative, who declined to be named, said the company had no choice but to stop the work because some residents had filed a court injunction against them.

He also admitted that the developer had unloaded the sand there to stop residents from “trespassing into the construction site”. When questioned further, he replied that the road was not ready for use and left angrily.

Cheremi said the council was looking into the matter. He said the council hoped that the road could be opened for use before Hari Raya Aidilfitri

“This link is one of the 17 traffic proposals approved by the council and endorsed by the state government to improve traffic flow around Ara Damansara and Lembah Subang,” he added.

Resident Ben Teh said the link was part of the city’s masterplan and housebuyers deserved what they were promised.

“We have been stuck in this situation for years and we are fed up with this problem,” he said.

The residents also demanded to know details of the injunction against the road opening, and questioned why the views of the minority had presided over the matter.

“It is an important link not only for Ara Damansara, but also many residents in Tropicana. The Megah Mas tunnel is now one-way and congestion at the FAS tunnel is unbearable, we badly need this link,” said resident Wendy Lim.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had in November 2009 given the directive and Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman had instructed that the link be opened by February this year.

An earlier injunction filed by Tropicana residents to keep the link closed was lifted when the Tropicana tunnel was completed