Residents stage protest against access road

About 50 residents carried banners and placards to stage a protest on Sunday August 5, 2012 against the construction of an access road that links Paramount View condominium to Jalan 21/27 which they felt would cause traffic congestion and affect their lives adversely.

Led by Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU) Community Service Centre chairman Wong Sai Hou, the multi-racial residents comprised children and adults who started gathering early in the morning at the site behind the condo where some road digging work had started.

“Today we come out to protest the access road to protect our safety, our family and children and the inconvenience,” said Dr Wong.

“There are many flaws here. It does not follow the specification of the real law. Firstly, how can they cut up the hill, which is a 45 degrees slope, to go under the TNB station? And secondly, you put up an ambiguous signboard that says “Membina Jalan 20’ Sambungan” (To build a 20 feet link road), so where is the road going through?”

Present among the group participating in the protest were Section 21 SEA Park Residents Association (RA) chairman Gan Keng, Section 21 SEA Park Rukun Tetangga (RT) deputy chairman Cliff Yin, Sri Aman Flats RT chairman Abdul Khahar Ahmad, Voice of Women president Chew Hoong Ling and C K Lim.

Wong asked what would happen to the playground, the badminton court and the trees in the areas if the access road took up part of the field. He said all these were not ecologically sound, nor were they sustainable. There was also the worry of safety of children playing in the field. He added that they wanted to provide a safe environment for their children.

Another area of concern raised by Wong was the stability of the slope. “How stable is the slope? If it is not stable, what will happen if it rains heavily. The area is now exposed and there is nothing to stop the soil erosion. This may weaken the pylon (next to the condo) carrying high voltage cables and if it collapses who is going to be responsible?” Wong asked.

“Our solution is to go back to the original plan of connecting the missing link between Jalan SS1/39 and Jalan 21/1 near the Taman Paramount LRT station. It was planned way back in the 1980s and should be revived.”

Wong said the plan was deferred then because of the presence of squatters but they had already moved into the Sri Aman flats nearby. He said the developer could build a car park in the area with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) topping up by building the missing link road from Jalan SS1/39 to Jalan 21/1. He said the link should have been done long ago.

“So there is no more excuse now not to build the missing link to cater for additional traffic flow,” said Dr Wong adding that the present batch of councillors did not know the history of it.

Section 21 SEA Park RA chairman Gan Keng said the residents opposed the access road because they will have to face traffic congestion along Jalan 21/27 which is a residential street and it would not be able to cope with the high traffic volume and speed.

A long-time resident Eddy Choo, 65, a retiree who lives at Jalan 21/27 said he was disappointed with the authorities for allowing the access road to be built.

He said: “Jalan 21/27 is already very busy especially during the morning and evening peak hours. The access road would only bring more traffic here and give us more headaches. We do not want it here.”

”The field has been here for so long providing recreational activities to the residents here so why disturb it?” asked Abdul Khahar bin Ahmad, 55, chairman of KRT Sri Aman Flats next to the condo.

Voice of Women president Chew Hoong Ling said the access road should not be allowed in the area. She was concerned about the steep slope behind the condo.

“Not only motorists are using it but also pedestrians especially the old who may find the steep slope challenging and face risk of accidents.

“They are building the 20 feet-wide road which will take up the field. The existing side road next to a row of terrace houses measured only 16 feet wide and assuming that road will be used to link up to the access road, you still need another four feet of land from the field. What will happen to the trees around the field? Surely they will have to chop them down.

“The jam here is already so bad especially in the morning and the access road would only worsen traffic conditions in Jalan 21/27.”