ABOUT 100 residents showed up at the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) headquarters in Jalan Yong Shook Lin to hand over a petition against the closure of Jalan Tanjung in Bandar Utama.
The residents from areas like Tropicana, Aman Suria, Palm Spring @Damansara Condominium and Bandar Utama are against the closure of the road.
Also present were representatives from SJK (C) Damansara and Dijaya Corporation.
United front: Residents from several areas gathered at the MBPJ headquarters to voice their displeasure about the closure plan. It was recently announced that the road, which served as an entrance and exit point for motorists travelling between Bandar Utama and Tropicana, would be closed.
A signboard was also put up, announcing the change of traffic flow to one-way coming out of Tropicana.
Action group chairman Mohamed Shukri Zain, who is also Tropicana Residents Association vice-president, said they had collected more than 11,000 signatures from residents who were opposed to the road closure.
The MBPJ was surprisingly organised this time around, preparing a room for the residents to hold a press conference and to hand over the petition.
Petaling Jaya deputy mayor Puasa Md Taib was present to receive the signatures and to take note of the issues and concerns raised by those present.
Shocking sight: Signs saying that the access has been closed have already been placed in Jalan Tanjung. MBPJ engineering head Ismail Shafie was also present during the meeting.
Shukri said during several meetings between residents, the Bandar Utama developer and MBPJ, most of the residents were against the road closure.
“It is a critical road for many residents besides those from Tropicana. If the road is closed, then the council should also consider closing off access from Kota Damansara (via Persiaran Surian) as many cars from outside use the road,” Shukri said.
A Bandar Utama resident said those staying in Bandar Utama were also affected as they also had to deal with the traffic congestion.
“Bandar Utama has already waited 12 years to take back the road.
“Why can’t they wait a bit longer while we find an alternative road?” Aman Suria Residents Association chairman Wendy Chan asked.
Several residents said they saw a signboard on Tuesday morning in front of the Riana Green Condominium saying that the access to the road was closed.
Puasa said the matter would be brought to the traffic and infrastructure sub-committee that would meet today and he assured residents that the road would not be closed until Nov 20.
“Our traffic consultant has also done a traffic study and has concluded that Jalan Tanjung was one of the major roads that needs to be considered in view of development in the area,” Puasa said.
For the sake of public interest, Puasa said it was an option for the state to buy over the land but that would only be decided after the sub-committee had gone through all the details.
When contacted, Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd director Datuk Teo Chiang Kok said he was disappointed to see that residents have reneged on the agreement reached during the previous meetings, which was to change the traffic flow to one way for six months before closing the road.
“There are already many approved access roads which residents can use. This is not an approved road.
“We also have to mitigate our losses because we’ve lost a multinational company which was renting our building before this. We also have more land to develop.
“We hope that they understand and look at the bigger picture. Jalan Tanjung was supposed to be a temporary access and, after 12 years, it’s only fair that we close the road,” said Teo.
Commenting on the “Access Closed” signboards, Teo said the contractor was not supposed to put up the boards until later, and he would ask them to cover up the boards for the time being.
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