Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) deputy president Cheremi Tarman (pic) stressed that the KL Node developers must engage with stakeholders in Selayang early on and conduct impact studies properly.
THE new Kuala Lumpur Northern Dispersal Expressway (KL Node) project needs to be mutually beneficial to both motorists and Selayang residents.
Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) deputy president Cheremi Tarman said the project could not be a source of new traffic problems for the local community.
“The project needs to benefit the people of Selayang, without major disruption to the internal traffic system like some other projects have caused,” he said, referring to another highway in Shah Alam.
Cheremi, who chaired the council’s monthly full board meeting, said this to a team of KL Node representatives who presented the project to the council yesterday.
He emphasised that all traffic, environmental, social and cultural impact assessments must be conducted properly.
“Study the situation properly, even if it takes longer than expected, and approach stakeholders such as residents associations and businesses early on,” he advised.
Cheremi said all engagements with the community should be done with MPS’ involvement, to ensure that the developers did not cherry-pick the groups.
On the local council’s end, he said the Engineering and Planning departments must oversee the project with a keen eye to ensure the local community’s interests were taken into account.
“For example, one important part is to have the Engineering Department go through the details with the developer to come up with an effective traffic management plan to reduce the impact of congestion during the construction period.
“There will be more meetings internally and with the developers before the matter is brought to the state government for a decision,” he added.
Construction of the 40.2km open-toll elevated highway has been approved in principle by Works Ministry.
Work is expected to begin in 2024 and completed in five years.
KL Node will form part of the Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road, connecting Kuala Lumpur to northern Selangor and the east coast of the peninsula with connectivity to Kuala Selangor Expressway (Latar Expressway), East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE), Jalan Kuching and the Duta Ulu-Kelang Expressway (DUKE).
On another matter, Cheremi said MPS issued 5,651 warrants of attachment notices in October to property owners with arrears exceeding RM200, which allowed the local council to seize moveable items on the property.
He urged ratepayers to settle outstanding amounts within seven days of the notice received.
Cheremi also disclosed that MPS received almost 600 responses to its public survey on services, facilities and cleanliness within the municipality.
“We still have a month to collect feedback from the people, which will guide us for 2023, but at a glance, many responses are about infrastructure like roads,” he added.
