Fadillah, who met with representatives of “Say No To PJD Link”, a group of Selangor residents against the planned construction of the controversial elevated highway, also assured them that the project would have to get the state government’s nod, and approval by the works ministry, before going ahead.

“During the meeting, the minister gave a detailed explanation regarding the proposed implementation of the PJD Link project to the representatives,” said the ministry in a statement.

“(Fadillah also) expressed the government’s commitment in ensuring that the companies which have proposed the project carry out the environmental impact assessment (EIA), traffic impact assessment (TIA) and social impact assessment (SIA) in accordance with the conditions stipulated in the concession agreement.”

The impact assessments have to be submitted by April 5, 2023, a year after the concession agreement was signed on April 5 this year.

The ministry also called on the developers of the proposed tolled elevated highway – which would cut across densely populated parts of Petaling Jaya – to hold dialogue sessions with residents and other stakeholders.

The main objective of the proposed highway is to disperse traffic congestion in Petaling Jaya by providing major connections with six existing highways and five major railways.

However, the project’s critics claimed it would channel more traffic to the roads in Petaling Jaya and that it was incongruent with the city’s aspiration to achieve low-carbon city status by 2030.

The project was approved in principle by the Cabinet on Nov 12, 2017 and by the Selangor government on Sept 3, 2020.

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