Yesterday’s briefing by Syarikat Prasarana Nasional Bhd on the Light Rail Transit service to Subang Jaya and Puchong left many puzzled as to what the exercise hoped to achieve.
For one, what the extension does is to cater for a huge population base, said Michael Tamilarason— the Puchong councillor at the Subang Jaya Municpal Council (MPSJ).
However, he said the LRT line extension does not go beyond Kampung Baru or between Batu 13 and Batu 18 in Puchong.
“These places have in total more than 10,000 in population, arising from the huge housing estates especiallyin Bandar Bukit Puchong.
“In truth, these are the areas where the service is sorely needed. Yet, after listening to SPNB, it appears these places have yet to be included in its LRT plans. The company also did not offer any explanation when queried,” said Tamilarason.
During the briefing, SPNB’s plans showed the LRT line extension to Puchong will have stops at IOI Mall, Tesco, Bandar Puteri, Puchong Perdana and Putra Heights.
Another public hearing for the Puchong community is expected to be held later this month to solicit feedback and suggestions.
“At this next hearing session, the people should demand for more LRT stops. Anyway, the authorities had ordered the original route to be reviewed, where additional LRT stops are expected to be included,” said a council staff, who declined to be identified.
It is learnt that there is a possibility for more LRT stops to be included in the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015). If that is true,then the public can expect a further delay in the completion of the project.
When first mooted in 2006, the new LRT extension project was supposed to be part of a special RM10 billion government allocation for an efficient and cost-effective public transport system in the Klang Valley.
The extensions to the existing Kelana Jaya-Gombak and Sri Petaling-Ampang lines were to be constructed at a cost of RM5 billion and supposed to be ready by 2010.
This was later delayed to 2011 and the latest feedback is that the planned additional lines and stations for the LRT network is now projected to be ready only in 2013— three years later than originally planned.
The new lines will cover some 32km and cut across Kuala Lumpur.The Kelana Jaya line (formerly Putra LRT) will be extended to Subang Jaya and USJ, while the Sri Petaling line (formerly Star LRT) will cover Puchong.
Source: The Star
Posts
1 comment:
Bukit Puchong may have a large population, but that's because of the huge area that is covered by the name "Bukit Puchong". In terms of population density, the stations proposed so far has better justification, where the population is a lot from high-rise condos and apartments.
Of course if the government can further add on another 10-20 stations towards the south-eastern Puchong (i.e. Puchong Utama, Bukit Puchong, Putra Permai, etc) that would be great.
Post a Comment