KL-Putrajaya Highway, Government Project Gone Bad

Dear Editor,

My name is Lau Kien Foh and I’m the Chairman of Sri Petaling Residents Action Committee. This is my response to the article by Mr. R.Nadeswaran on “Heeding the call of the PAC” published on June 21.

Dear Nadeswaran,

I read your article on “Heeding the call of the PAC” yesterday. On behalf of the people whom their houses affected by the construction of the dedicated highway to Putrajaya, I can testify to your point raised in the article. I had the opportunity to “confront” the minister outside the Parliament and also the meeting with the minister in his office, where he invited almost 20 of his senior officials. My conclusion is “the man” belongs to different generation and has a different mind-set. He may be dedicated to his work and his boss, but he is definately not rational, not people sensitive and not reasonable. I’ve also highlighted in my letter to him that as a cabinet minister, his approach to delivery must be “holistic” and not “silo”. He must demonstrate the leadership role to ensure all government agencies are geared toward delivering projects that will not “victimise” the people.

On your comments for PAC, I totally agree with you. Again, I have the opportunity to work with the current PAC, led by Shahrir and his company. They are pro-active, rational and fact-based in its approach. I wish they could be given more resources to carry out their work.

However, on your point about the “secrecy” of the PAC hearings, I must point out to you that upon request, I was allowed by Shahrir to attend as an observer in one of their recent hearings (where the dedicated Putrajaya highway issue was discussed). I’m not sure whether it is open to the public but certainly, as an interested party, I find the hearings very informative and constructive. I also observed the professionalism demonstrated by the PAC members in understanding and discussing issues. What impressed me most was the discussion was totally non-politics and no “side-show” (as you may be aware that the PAC comprises MPs from both government and opposition parties).

If you wish to read more about our struggle, please visit www.sripetaling.net.

Lau Kien Foh
Chairman
Sri Petaling Residents Action Committee