MRT bosses ignoring Pakatan MPs, says Siva

Patrick Lee
March 11, 2011 It appears that opposition representatives have no say in the project, even if the trains pass through their constituencies.

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan MPs are often left out of consultations on the proposed Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system even though the trains will run through the areas they represent.



When they do respond to questions from opposition representatives, officials of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) tend to give incomplete answers, according to Subang MP R Sivarasa of PKR.



Speaking to reporters here today, he said he was at a Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) meeting in late January when SPAD officials dropped the MRT bombshell.



The attending SPAD officers raised the subject out of the blue, he said. “I was there for totally different reasons.”



The officers were accompanied by representatives of Gamuda-MMC, SPAD’s delivery partner in the MRT project. They needed MBPJ’s approval to build train stations in Petaling Jaya.



He said SPAD did not bother to call MPs and state assemblymen for the areas that the trains would pass through.



At least four of the proposed stations would be built in Sivarasa’s constituency.



He said the officials gave a presentation about the MRT proposal, but did not give satisfactory answers to questions posed afterwards.



“I asked them why stations were here and not there, and their answer was, ‘It’s because there’s another line coming from somewhere else,’” he said.



“That’s when I learned that there were other lines. So I asked them for the locations of the other lines, but they told me they didn’t have the information.”



He said he blew his top. “I said, ‘How do you expect us to understand your rationale when you’re not telling where your other line is?’



“This is the biggest project in the history of Malaysia, and you come to the public with partial info, and justify it with a half baked rationale.”



Sivarasa said the government needed to have more public consultations before going ahead with the controversial RM53 billion project.



Despite heavy public criticism against the MRT, the government appears determined to go ahead with it. It will call for tenders for various sub-contract works in April and award the contracts by June. Construction is expected to start in July.

SIVARASA Bersama Penduduk Desa Aman

SUNGAI BULOH: Noise pollution and health risks from an illegal concrete-batching plant in Kampung Desa Aman here has got residents in the village all worked up.


Located just off Jalan Kuala Selangor heading towards Sungai Buloh, the village is already home to two other legitimate concrete-batching companies.

Rumbling cement mixers, heavy lorries transporting sand, cracked pavements, dusty surroundings and the noise pollution are proving to a bane to the residents.

The company, RMC Concrete Sdn Bhd, cleared off a large section of a forest in Desa Aman in August 2010 to build the plant without permit or approval of the Selayang Council (MPS).

Angry and upset over the brazen attitude of the company, the residents brought up the matter to MPS councillor Zulnizam Shahrani who visited the site today.

“This is a stupid development (pembangunan biadap),” said Zulnizam.

“The area was zoned for light industries, not one that involves a lot of lorries going back and forth.”

Zulnizam said one of the other two legitimate concrete-batching companies, Evermix Concrete, has agreed to relocate its business elsewhere by June this year and the permit for the other company would not be continued.

RMC Concrete Sdn Bhd had applied for planning permission for its site but it was rejected by Zulnizam at an MPS Local Centre Committee (OSC) meeting in early October.

Oddly enough, the permission was approved one week later at another OSC meeting.

Legal complications

Zulnizam, who was not invited to be a part of the second meeting, found out about this much later in the year. Permission was then again denied at a third OSC meeting in January 2010.

However, according to state law, the multiple rejections and approvals meant that the case had to be forwarded to the State Planning Committee (SPC) for further investigation.

Subang MP R Sivarasa, who also visited the village today, said that the OSC episode was unnecessary, and has now led to legal complications.

“If the MPS had done the proper thing, rejected the planning pemission and left it, we won’t have an issue, and today you could demolish the plant,” he said.

Sivarasa said that it was not clear why the second OSC meeting happened the way it did, leading to Kampung Desa Aman residents’ troubles.

In the meantime, RMC Concrete, went ahead and completed the plant early this year, much to the chagrin of the village folk.

“The residents have complained. They asked how work can still be going on when the planned permission at the OSC has been rejected,” said a frustated Sivarasa.

He pointed to different types of sand piled up at the back portion of the batching plant, waiting to be mixed into concrete.

MPS has issued a stop-work order to RMC Concrete Sdn Bhd. It is also in the process of bringing the company to court for illegal earthworks and building construction.

Until then, the council is unable to demolish the plant, and is currently waiting for the SPC to complete its investigation and get back to them