KenaSaman.com

THE Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) introduced many initiatives throughout 2011 like the Low Carbon Green Rebate Assessment Scheme in an effort to make Petaling Jaya a green and liveable city.

The scheme provides a rebate of up to RM500 on annual assessment for residents who incorporate energy-efficient or environmentally-friendly methods in their homes or lifestyle and the council also announced a three-month free parking incentive for those who purchase hybrid cars from dealers in Petaling Jaya.

While the efforts towards a greener city are lauded, the fact remains that pressing issues like traffic congestion and over-development have not been fully addressed yet.

The Damasara Puchong Highway (LDP) was completed in 1998 to provide a smooth traffic flow from Petaling Jaya to Puchong and it was actually a pleasure to drive on the highway during the initial stages, taking only about 15 minutes to get from Bandar Utama to Bandar Sunway.

Banking on the efficiency of the highway, developers started building on either sides of it, promoting “easy access to the LDP” as a selling point and within a few years, high-rise condominiums mushroomed along the route and the LDP has now become synonymous with long crawls during peak hours.

While highway users lament endlessly about their long commute, let us not forget about the Petaling Jaya residents — some of them pioneers in this satellite town — who have problems just trying to get out of their housing area.

Residents along crucial stretches like Taman Mayang and Kelana Jaya sometimes take more than ten minutes just to make a U-turn back to their homes.

The recent highlight of the traffic congestion faced by Kelana Jaya’s SS6 residents is an example of the failure of MBPJ’s town planning department to properly address the infrastructure needs of the community before approving projects.

Not that the Petaling Jaya traffic situation is anything new — during public objection hearings over the past years, residents from Bandar Sri Damansara, all the way to PJ Old Town, have been screaming for the council to wake up and notice the traffic jams before approving development projects, but to no avail.

The 17 short-, medium-, and long-term solutions proposed based on a 2009 traffic study to ease congestion in Petaling Jaya have yet to be completed yet buildings continue to go up before roads are even built.

We did see the iconic (and problematic) Rothmans Roundabout at the junction of Jalan Harapan and Jalan Universiti upgraded to a signalised junction this year, alleviating the choking of traffic during peak hours.

However, the upgrade can hardly qualify as a long-term solution as several development projects are still going on in the Section 14 area like Jaya33 and the former Jaya Supermarket while the Section 13 industrial area has been earmarked for redevelopment into commercial lots.

With property prices in the city soaring, Petaling Jaya has become a gold mine for developers and every square inch of the city is being eyed for development.

Two years ago, the Football Association of Selangor (FAS) field in Kelana Jaya made way for development and residents are again left fuming this year when they found out that the neighbouring PKNS sports complex would also be making way for a mixed development project while talk is rife that the 133.5ha Kelab Golf Negara Subang (KGNS) could be taken over for development.

Even before the construction of the MRT has started, many parties have been optimistically forecasting that the public transportation would help ease the traffic woes in Petaling Jaya.

Residents staying around the proposed MRT stations voiced their concerns about worsening congestions and potential parking problems caused by commuters who park their cars in residential areas to hop on the train.

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