DASH removed from PJ Local Plan 2

PETALING JAYA: The Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH) has been taken out of the PJ Local Plan 2 (RTPJ2) pending a realignment proposal by Prolintas, the concessionaire.
Selangor state executive councillor for environment Elizabeth Wong said the decision was made by Mentri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali due to objections from residents in Mutiara Damansara and Damansara Perdana.
"They (residents) met the Mentri Besar and he agreed to remove it (Dash). It's no longer in RTPJ2," Elizabeth said.
She said the residents are pushing to make the removal permanent and among the objections raised were flawed and outdated Environment and Traffic Impact Assessments (EIA and TIA).
Approached after a proposal hearing for the RTPJ2, Say No To DASH (SNTD) spokesperson Michelle Wong said the assessment reports were not independent as they were both commissioned and paid for by concessionaire Prolintas.
This is despite guidelines from the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department stating that Prolintas should have conducted an independent Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
Furthermore, Michelle said, the studies were both conducted in 2011 and approved in 2012, which was then extended to 2016 upon its expiry in November 2014 by the Selangor Environment Department.
"The EIA remains as it was in 2012, but we have had new roads, new houses, and the MRT here now. How can they say the environment is still the same after all that?" she told reporters.
In Prolintas' TIA, she also pointed out the company did not provide any evidence to its claim that 50,000 cars from other roads in the area will be using DASH upon completion.
Additionally, Michelle said, the MRT will provide access to the Rubber Research Institute (RRI) and Kota Damansara near there, rendering the highway redundant.
"Basically this highway has no apparent benefit whatsoever. Why do you need another highway when there will be public transport in the future?" she asked.
Michelle said SNTD is not against development, but it should come with due process and not at the cost of posing serious health risks and other dangers to the local populace.