Here's my statement on the current status of Kidex and our position.
Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin
State Assemblyperson of Damansara Utama on Tuesday 27 January 2015.
On Keeping Quiet on Kidex
I am writing this to clarify the allegation
that we have been keeping quiet on the issue of Kidex. We have not and will not
run away from our responsibility to raise issues that concern the people.
Before I go any further, I would
like to stress here again that Kidex now holds neither the State government nor
MBPJ approval. The only approval they have now is from the federal government,
which is extended until 15 Feb 2015.
Since Kidex proposal came into
picture in 2013, we’ve been asking for facts and figures to study the merits
and demerits. In the case of a highway, a traffic impact assessment (TIA) is
necessary for evaluation. In the mean time, we’ve also wanted the Work Ministry
to prioritize public transport instead of building highway and suggested a
public transport alternative to Kidex[1].
When the preliminary TIA
became available, we studied the TIA, which covers the traffic impact of Kidex
at 43 local roads, and exposed that Kidex Sdn Bhd and Work Ministry had been
using partial statistics to claim that Kidex will reduce the traffic by 20 to
30%. We found that the overall traffic reduction that can be achieved by Kidex
is only 5.8% upon completion (1,455,310
passenger car unit (PCU) with Kidex versus 1,545,553 PCU without Kidex) and
will drop to only 3% ten years upon completion (1,858,531 PCU with Kidex versus
1,917,040 pcu without Kidex) [2].
When they rebutted on our findings, I’ve shown how they used creative
mathematics to deceive the public[3].
I have also questioned the price tag of Kidex as the most expensive
highway in terms of cost per km in the history of Malaysia. Its price tag is as
high as RM 161 million per km compared to RM 28.57 million per km for NVKE, RM
33.18 million per km for LDP, RM 37.68 million per km for KESAS, RM 69.39
million per km for NPE and RM 95.06 million per km for Ampang KL Elevated
Highway[4]. Even the nearest price tag is 40% lower than
Kidex’s price.
Just last month, I raised the alarm bell when Department of National
Unity and Integration invited 172 Rukun Tetangga in Petaling to Kidex briefing
under the disguise of “Road to Unity “ Program. We are worried of the possibility of Kidex Sdn
Bhd using the signatures of attendance as a show of consent.
Above are just a few examples of the occasions that we raised the issue
of Kidex based on facts, figures and rationales, one just have to google Kidex
and our names to check out other concerns raised by us.
We have also been constantly engaging with the people on Kidex. We went
to the public hearings held by Say No To Kidex (SNTK) one after another despite
being repeatedly shouted at or thrown with harsh remarks by certain leaders of SNTK.
This is because we believe in accountability. In the same spirit, we went to
last Sunday rally and being accused of “keeping quiet” without a chance to even
to speak to the people.
I hope the above will show that the allegation that we are keeping quiet
on Kidex is completely baseless. We did not. Our approach is to evaluate the
matter objectively based on facts and figures and constant engagement with the
people.
Then why not reject Kidex now?
Shortly after Azmin Ali became the Menteri Besar of Selangor, he met
with SNTK to discuss the 3 conditions and the dateline of 15 February 2015.
This approach was agreed by SNTK committee back then. MB later announced the
conditions and the dateline[5].
A government cannot be changing dateline by whims and fancies, so I believe it
is more appropriate that the state government make the announcement on or after
the dateline.
Why can’t Selangor government
reject all highways and invest in public transport?
To put things into perspective, there’s a huge difference in budget
between state and federal government due to fiscal centralization. This year
Selangor tabled the biggest ever budget of RM2.42 billion but it still pales in
comparison to the federal revised budget of RM 235 billion, which is about 100 times
bigger. Kidex itself is RM2.42 billion, which is the size of Selangor annual
budget, and MRT phase 1 line costs RM 25 billion, which is roughly 10 times the
Selangor annual budget. In another words, the state government will not be able
to afford any highway nor massive public transport infrastructure.
As other cities in Malaysia and around ASEAN region become increasingly
competitive, connectivity becomes extremely important for Selangor to compete
for investments and economic development. There are 6 highways proposed by the
Federal Government. Should the state government reject all highways before even
to study the merits and demerits of the highways? I believe that each highway
proposed should be studied properly and cooperation between the state and
federal government should be forged if it can be proven based on facts and
figures that it benefits the people. In the mean time, recognizing the
importance of public transport, MBPJ has on its own effort embarked on PJ
Traffic Master Plan although public transport is a federal matter.
Is disagreeing with Kidex
Petaling Jaya’s NIMBYism?
No. We’ve also received complains mainly from people outside of PJ that
the elected representatives in PJ are opportunists who like to make popular
decision such as disagreeing with Kidex to take care of our own backyard. I beg
to differ.
According to the Journey Time Analysis of the TIA, which we requested
from Kidex Sdn Bhd’s traffic consultant, the journey time saved with and
without Kidex for trips within PJ is 1.31%, for trips to/from PJ is 2.66% and for
trips not starting/ending in PJ is 0.38%. In other words, if Kidex is built, PJ
residents will get marginally higher benefits than non-PJ residents.
Having said that, I would like to point out that the overall journey
time saving with the construction of Kidex is very marginal. Overall, the
journey time that will be saved by having Kidex compared to without Kidex is
only 0.6% (2 million minutes potential saving for a total of 325 million
minutes of travel time). In other words, we can’t even save one minute in an
hour trip with Kidex!
Therefore, if the TIA of Kidex continues to show such dismal traffic
reduction impact on 15 February 2015 and with the most expensive per km price
tag, I don’t see any possibility that we’ll agree on the construction of the
highway. It is not based on NIMBYism but on the proper evaluation of the cost
and benefits of the project to the state of Selangor from the facts and figures
presented to us.
[1] http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/259186
[2]
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/kidex-highway-will-only-cut-jams-by-3-to-5-say-dap-lawmakers
[3]
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/kidex-boss-in-creative-maths-to-justify-highway-says-dap-rep
[4] http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/265109
[5] http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/528970-azmin-kidex-mha-should-follow-3-conditions.html
