Justify spending millions for one-way loop

A bird’s eye view of the one-way loop in Jalan Timur, Petaling Jaya. – filepic

THE Petaling Jaya one-way loop (OWL) is back in the spotlight with criticism on how the project fails to take pedestrian safety into account.

How does a project with a price tag of RM23.8mil be so shoddily done?

The only statement from the state government is from Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, who has rightfully asked the Petaling Jaya mayor to be firm and ensure those tasked with completing the project to be replaced if they were found to be slacking.

Instead of just requesting for the mayor to replace the contractors, I would like to put things into perspective as someone who participated in the public feedback exercise for the project on Dec 10, 2014 and who also did a Freedom of Information Enactment request on the project in March this year.

Firstly, all the criticisms that were mentioned in StarMetro’s article were the same feedback that was given in December 2014. These criticisms were reported in the media and nothing had been done to address the problems that persist till today.

The silence from Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) was what prompted a few of us to apply for information on the project. To MBPJ’s credit, they released the project’s paperwork to us and these are the facts we were able to glean based on those reports:

1. Discussion of the project began on Sept 12, 2012.

2. The project was green-lit on Nov 21, 2013 but actual work did not commence until October 2014.

3. The project’s plan was just an A4-sized paper drawing. When we asked for a complete set of plans, we were verbally told the following: “The consultant will release a drawing from time to time so we cannot issue you the latest drawing.”

4. The documentation for the OWL did not include the public feedback session held in December 2014.

Now that we are all acquainted with the details (or lack thereof), we have to ask how MBPJ was able to give an estimated cost of RM23.8mil for the project.

A project cannot be awarded to a contractor without the project details finalised and approved because the council needs to tell the contractor exactly what to do. From these detailed plans, the Finance Department is also able to authorise payment for works completed as verified by the Engineering Department.

It has been one year since the project started and there were reports that an initial payment of RM2mil was authorised for this first phase of the project.

From a visual glance of the physical works done, the work involved cutting mature trees, demolishing the road kerbs and putting up haphazardly placed plastic barriers but little else.

How was the RM2mil justified with this amount of work?

Instead of simply passing the blame to the contractor, can the council reveal the actual plans for the project and itemise the bill so the public will know the authorities are not simply wasting our taxes?

Give the public a timetable on what MBPJ intends to do and be transparent about the whole issue to the public, instead of simply blaming the council for the mess.

The state controls the local government and is empowered to sack officers under the Local Government Act.

MAK KHUIN WENG,

Petaling Jaya