Groups against DASH, SUKE excluded from public hearing
Say No To SUKE spokesperson reproaches Selangor government for failure to invite all stakeholders to yesterday’s event.
PETALING JAYA: Two groups of stakeholders are upset with the Selangor government for failing to invite them to a public hearing on Monday, claiming that it is an attempt to ignore them.
Say No To DASH (SNTD), a group opposing the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH), and Say No To SUKE (SNTS), a group against the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Expressway (SUKE), claim they were not informed of the public hearing.
The public hearing was on the degazettement of 3.2ha of the Bukit Cerakah forest reserve and 29.6ha of the Bukit Sungai Puteh Utara and Selatan forest reserve for the DASH and SUKE expressways respectively.
SNTS spokesperson Agos Hasan Ashari said the group only learnt of the public hearing from a resident who had submitted an objection letter to the project.
“The resident said he received a call on Friday informing him of the meeting which was to take place on Monday morning. We also found out that only 10 people were called for the hearing,” he told FMT.
Agos, who attended the meeting, took the Selangor government to task for its failure to invite more people to the public hearing.
“SNTS, together with other parties, have submitted 5,679 objection letters on the proposed SUKE highway. Why were only 10 people called?
“When we questioned state exco for tourism, environment, green technology and consumer affairs Elizabeth Wong, we were told there was not enough space and some of the residents could not be contacted.”
Agos also said he was informed by Wong that another series of meetings on the degazettement would take place.
“We are upset that we were not invited. The residents are also disillusioned and think it is all ‘wayang kulit’ (for show).”
Agos said the group’s stand on SUKE remained the same.
“We categorically oppose the alignment of the SUKE highway and recommend that the original LRT project planned in the proposed Ampang Jaya Municipal Council Draft Local Plan 2020 be honoured.”
SNTD representative Alvin Chin said the group also did not hear of any public hearing on the degazettement of the forest reserves.
“We have been ignored all this while. On all the things we have requested, the government has kept quiet. Whatever that came from them were all empty promises.”
Chin said SNTD’s main objective had always been the realignment of an 11m stretch of the DASH Expressway near the residents’ condominium.
However, he said, the Selangor government had ignored their objections.
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When contacted, Wong said she would check with the secretariat of the public hearing committee to find out why the two groups were not invited to the public hearing.