A Response from Damansara Indaman – ‘We are willing to withdraw injunction’
Source: NST 20th Aug 2010
Residents have removed the barriers to use the closed road. — Picture by Effendy Rashid
PETALING JAYA: Damansara Idaman Owners Residents Association (RA), which had filed an injunction against TA Properties Sdn Bhd in April to stop the construction of a link road between Ara Damansara and Tropicana, want a traffic impact study to be conducted.
RA president Wan Anwar Wan Mohd Noor, 51 said they had been waiting for the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to carry out the study on the traffic coming from Persiaran Tropicana heading towards Damansara Ara.
“We asked the city council for a traffic impact assessment to be carried out before any work commences on the road in Jalan PJU 1a/1. We have waited for six months and there has been no reply from MBPJ. We couldn’t get the cooperation of the local authority and that was why we applied for an injunction,” he said.
Wan Anwar said the RA was prepared to sit down and resolve the issue with all parties involved and they were willing to withdraw the injunction if the study showed that traffic in the area would not be affected by the construction of the link road.
The uncompleted link road in Jalan PJU 1a/1 is located in front of Damansara Idaman and Idaman Villas. Work on the road started in April and was expected to have been completed in July.
Wan Anwar said the residents were not against the construction of the road, but they would like the local authority to provide a detailed traffic study on the area.
“What we want to know is what the traffic condition would be like when the link opens.
“If the traffic study shows that there will not be massive traffic congestion in Jalan PJU 1a/1 and that Persiaran Tropicana can handle the traffic flow, then we are willing to withdraw the injunction. But, if the study suggests otherwise, we would have to look at other options,” he said.
Meanwhile, a representative from the developer’s office said that residents who had been using the uncompleted road were trespassing on private property.
“The road is not open to the public yet and there are safety issues involved. The reason we put up the barriers is to ensure the residents’ safety. This is our worksite and if anything happens to the residents, who is to blame?” he said.
When the house owners in Tropicana, Damansara Idaman, Damansara Lagenda and Ara Damansara moved in, there was a proposal to link the two areas.
In 2004, the Tropicana Residents’ Association protested against the linking of the two areas because the Persiaran Tropicana tunnel had only one lane each for traffic coming in and out of the area.
The Tropicana residents then filed an injunction to keep the link closed until MBPJ widened the tunnel and improved traffic flow.
After the Jalan Tanjung issue last year, Selangor Menteri Besar had asked for the Damansara-Tropicana link to be opened.
It was reported last Saturday that residents of Ara Damansara tired of waiting for the link road to be completed had taken matters into their own hands and removed concrete barriers to enable their cars to pass through. They had also patched up a metre-wide trench in the road.
The road was blocked again on Tuesday by the developer with boulders and a big pile of gravel, but the determined residents flattened the gravel to enable their cars to pass through. – By Noel Achariam
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NST = Bullshit, that’s all I can say.
why?
It is indeed surprise that Damansara Idaman residents are now asking for the traffic impact assessment study to be conducted now! Aren’t the developer supposed to have done this when they applied for the development order earlier? If one were to view the development plan for Damansara Idaman in http://www.taglobal.com.my/pdf/amanaia_ebrochure.pdf, you would have noticed that the linkage road from Damansara Idaman into Ara Damansara was in their plan. So why request for the traffic study now when it should have been done long ago!
My friends from Damansara Idaman should instead perhaps get their developer, TA and Tropicana developer, to sit down and see how they can contribute towards providing a proper interchange near the current Tropicana signalised (traffic light) junction so that traffic in that vicinity could disperse off freely. This could be done with perhaps a trumpet interchange whilst the piece of land next to the Tropicana underpasses is currently still vacant.
interesting to see that while some can engage is a civil and sensible discussion others are only out to create tension. I was told by a Tropicana resident that the macro traffic study is a term under the settlement agreement signed by Tropicana when they lifted their injunction. It is nothing new and if one has to be done it has to be done. The only sad thing is that Tropicana could not pursue this anymore as they are embroiled in the Jalan Tanjung issue.
I am sure when they dreamed up the idea of PKFZ there was a nicely done up studies to support its development… …studies will only serve as a reference…and it may or may not be unbiased. Sometimes we should look into an issue and see whether it makes sense. Sure, this could be subjective, but we are not in primary school where the answer is only A, B, C, D (or, E, all of the above).
But no study is a sure recipe for disaster……. Unless you become lucky