KUALA LUMPUR – The Works Ministry is unsure if the government will have to fork out compensation costs to the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) developers over the cancellation of the highway project.
Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said that it is not clear yet whether or not the government will have to compensate developers PJD Link (M) Sdn Bhd after yesterday’s decision.
“For now, I’m not sure yet (regarding compensation to PJD Link). We’ll see. I think that there might not be any (compensation fees), (but) we have to check,” Alexander was quoted as saying by Berita Harian at the sidelines of an event, here today.
The minister also said that the government will be handing an official letter on the cancellation to PJD Link in the near future.
Earlier today, PJD Link said it had yet to receive any official notification from the government regarding the project’s status, following the announcement on its cancellation yesterday.
However, PJD Link said it was still studying requests to review the alignment of the proposed highway.
The developer also asserted that the project is viable and will bring benefits to the people through “vast economic spillovers” estimated to generate 12,000 jobs and RM31 billion in total economic output.
The developer also asserted that the previously unfulfilled conditions mentioned by government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil yesterday were due to the Conditions Precedent (CP), which had taken longer than expected due to the complexities of this project.
Fahmi yesterday announced the discontinuation of the project due to PJD Link’s failure to fulfil six out of the 11 stipulated CP.
The 25-km long PJD Link, with 11 interchanges, would have connected Bandar Utama to Bukit Jalil as a means to disperse traffic and reduce traffic congestion within Petaling Jaya.
Last year, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari announced the Pakatan Harapan state government’s decision to scrap the PJD Link project before the state election in August.
He pointed to how the impact assessment reports submitted by the developer were not satisfactory and did not meet certain conditions set by the state government, particularly its social impact assessment (SIA) report, which was supposedly approved by PLANMalaysia Selangor.
Last month, Selangor Infrastructure and Agriculture executive councillor Izham Hashim told Scoop the proposed highway had not been cancelled but was delayed as the state government awaited information from the PJD Link’s developer about revised plans for the alignment. – April 18, 2024