Friday August 10, 2007
No LRT stops at three busy spots
Subang Jaya residents with the help of their assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng came up with their proposed route and halts for the extended Putra LRT line into Subang Jaya. However, news is that Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) has ignored some of the proposed halts and is going ahead with their own route instead. StarMetro finds out.
Subang Jaya assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng is upset. Informed sources have told him that Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) is bypassing three halts that he and residents had proposed for the extended Putra LRT service into the township.
SPNB is the holding company under the Finance Ministry that owns the rail lines.
 |
|
Crushed dream: According to Lee’s sources, the LRT in Subang Jaya will not have halts at Sunway, Lagoon Perdana and USJ 1.
|
“I’ve been told that Prasarana has finalised its own routes and is about to present it to the Cabinet for final approval.
“Based on what they have finalised, they are bypassing the Sunway, Lagoon Perdana and the USJ 1 halts,” said Lee.
He said SPNB would be making a mistake if it excluded the three important halts.
“If Prasarana continues with their finalised route, it definitely won’t be successful, and this will be a mistake like they did with Putra and Star LRT lines,” he said.
Lee said that when news of the Putra LRT line extension into Subang Jaya was first announced by the Prime Minister, he had sat down with residents and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) to draw out the route.
“We presented it to SPNB but it seemed that they never took into consideration our proposal nor consulted the residents who know best,” he continued.
He said based on the current route, SPNB was excluding low and medium-cost areas where people who would take public transport lived.
“Shopping complexes are places that people go to, so the Sunway Pyramid stop is an important one to have. Sunway also has thousands of car park for commuters to park their vehicles,” he said.
“There is no doubt that extending the line into Sunway can be quite expensive but the place is a big catchment area. There’s a wide coverage in just the Lagoon Perdana area alone, especially since Kg Lindungan and Kg Medan are also within close proximity. I would estimate easily 50,000 people there,” Lee said.
“I’m also disappointed with how they would miss out USJ 1 with blocks of low and middle-income flats there. You have to look at the present situation when accessing things.
“For example, the line from Sentul is usually packed mainly because of the lower income groups of people there,” said Lee.
The seven initial halts that were proposed by Lee and the residents are the Subang Jaya KTM station, SS14 and SS15, Bandar Sunway, Lagoon Perdana, USJ 1, between The Summit and Mydin, and finally, on the plot of MPSJ land in USJ 8.
StarMetro had reported Lee as saying that he hoped SPNB would look into ways to expand the routes such as including new areas and not change those that have been proposed.
The route by SPNB is said to be at the Subang Jaya KTM station, before heading to Jalan Jengka and Kesas highway, and ending up at Persiaran Kewajipan.
Residents Committee (JKP) Zone 5 (which covers The Summit right up to Angsana Apartments in USJ 1) chairman Kamarudin Rasol said he was disappointed to learn of the news.
“I believe all residents in my area support the initial proposal by Datuk Lee to have a halt in USJ 1. It gave them a glimmer of hope because they can take the LRT in future and leave their cars at home. At present, the jam here is getting from bad to worse especially during peak hours at 8am, noon and 5pm,” he said.
“Here at Angsana, there are 10 blocks of low-cost apartments and a lot of residents use the buses to get to work. We thought we could save on petrol and no longer need to bear with the jam in future so this (news) comes as a disappointment,” said Kamarudin.
JKP Zone 4 chairman Goh Hai Thun feels the same.
“Residents would definitely use LRT over cars once there’s a hub here. The line would serve at least a population of 200,000 stretching from residential areas of PJS 5 to 11. Moreover, these are middle-income group residents who rely on public transportation a lot. Not forgetting the Monash and Sunway College students who number to about 10,000 to 15,000 a day. If the LRT is convenient, people would prefer using it as a congestion relief,” said Goh.
Lee said he hoped Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy would look into the matter that take into account residents’ needs.
“The prime minister had also said that whatever petrol subsidy that had been withdrawn would go into upgrading of infrastructure, and this is one of them. So it’s no excuse for SPNB to say the cost is expensive and they do not have budget,” he said.
