Only partial acquisitions to be made, says Kidex

Assurance: Anand (left) and Dr Shaharizuan explaining the Kidex alignment

Some house and business owners may not have to part with their buildings to make way for the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).

“In some cases only a portion of their land will be acquired,” said Kinrara Damansara Expressway Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Dr Shaharizuan Shafiei said during a Kidex alignment road tour with the media recently.

“If we need 3m of land outside a house, only the area up to the fence of the house may be acquired.

“The entire house will not be acquired,” he added.

Dr Shaharizuan added there would be no houses acquired along the one-way loop (OWL) in Section 52 as well as along Jalan Semangat as the existing road reserve was sufficient.

“The mosque in Jalan Semangat will not be affected. We have enough road reserve there,” he said.

Dr Shaharizuan explained that in special circumstances, the Malaysian Highway Authority has allowed a reserve space of less than 13m from the carriageway.

“In the case of Flamingo Hotel in Ampang, it is just 10m from the carriageway,” he said.

Dr Shaharizuan added houses along Jalan Semangat in Section 14 will also not be acquired, neither will those on Jalan Utara.

However, SMK (L) Bukit Bintang as well as SK Sri Petaling may be affected.

“The land encroachment will be minimal and we have discussed with the school authorities for a sound barrier to be erected,” he said.

Kidex Sdn Bhd representative Anand Subramaniam rebutted an environmental impact assessment by certain groups which claimed the highway will lead to increased pollution.

“When vehicles are stuck in a traffic jam, the pollution is higher. However, on a highway, traffic flows well.

“The report was done in the United States,” he noted.

Anand urged public to not blindly accept such reports and questioned their applicability in the Klang Valley and Malaysia.

He added that Kidex’s environment report was based on the requirement set by the Petaling Jaya City Council, as well as the state and federal government.