Bandar Mahkota Cheras : Road Opened & Closed

".....grand Saga ask for RM200 ~ RM 400 Million as loses... can the society ask for RM 200 ~ 400 BILLION Ringgit....."

I was curious what was the Bandar Mahkota Cheras controversy is all about. Why it has become so serious until residents been arrested, injury, water canon, tear gas & FRU. So i do some searching about the matters and below is the summary;

2005:
Bandar Mahkota Cheras developer, Narajaya Sdn Bhd built a short cut connecting the Bandar Tun Hussein Onn junction to the expressway
(I guess the developer have promised buyer that road will be built leading to their project)

2005:
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) gave the green light for its opening.

2005:
Grand Saga Sdn Bhd, concessionaire for the Cheras-Kajang Highway, has deemed it illegal. Grand Saga barricaded the road and the matter was then referred to the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and the Works Ministry.
(Grand Saga must be feeling the dropout passengers using their highway...$$$ matters)

2008:
Narajaya Sdn Bhd, is now suing Grand Saga because both companies cannot reach an agreement over the issue of compensation. Grand Saga is reputed to be asking for RM400mil for loss of toll collection over the years.
(RM 400 million is totally out of mind!!!)
2008 March :
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) deputy president Abdullah Marjunid say little can be done about the Bandar Mahkota Cheras road closure issue because the case has gone to court.
(As reported by media, opening of the road is one of the agenda for Pakatan Rakyat MP, however seem it already a court case....just have to wait)

APRIL :
meeting between Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Committee, the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj), the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) and developer Narajaya Sdn Bhd.

Selangor executive councillor and State Local Government, Study and Research Committee chairman Ronnie Liu has given the green light for the opening of the Bandar Mahkota Cheras toll-free access road leading to the Cheras-Kajang Highway...."We are ordering the opening of the road because it is on state land. It has been handed over by developer Narajaya to the council,”
(for me, this is the beginning of the climax. Ronnie Liu should not give such a statement before referring the legal aspect, agreement & there is a court case going on)

More than 700 angry residents who had gathered at the barricade under the flyover before the Cheras 11th mile toll plaza and at the junction to Bandar Tun Hussein Onn took matters into their own hands by forcefully removing the blockage...defied an order from the Selangor state government to wait till Wednesday...letter purportedly from Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, asking for all work to stop and for the crowd to disperse peacefully.
(After Ronnie Liu said the road is on state land, resident are full of hope and happiness. Yet when the road can't be open as promised, hope become dissapoint, happy become anger...out of control)
Kajang police temporarily closed the controversial road offering toll-free access to the Cheras-Kajang Highway..pending the outcome of the survey to determine who has the right of way over the road at a meeting at Menara MPKj in Kajang at 3pm.
(tension is increasing....)

"...We are confident the land belongs to the state. But if the outcome proves that the land belongs to Federal government, we hope residents' civil rights would be considered and the matter put to rest with a positive outcome...” said Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu.
(see...Ronnie Liu started to change statement made earlier...)

Grand Saga business development and corporate affairs executive director Zainal Abidin Ali said the issue could not be debated because the barricade is the subject matter of a legal suit between township developer Narajaya Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) and the concessionaire, pending a decision by the High Court. The hearing is scheduled for May 21.

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim called on the residents to be patient, saying that the state government would find a solution to the problem so that residents in the area would not face any more obstruction from the company concerned.
(I guess the MB selangor already sense something.....)

But this is the latest happening:



My opinion?
Federal Government must ask Grand Saga (concessionaire for the Cheras-Kajang Highway)allowed the "short-cut" reopen. Might involve compensation but not ridiculous as high as RM 400 Million.

Why?
I still remember what been said by the late Professor Syed Hussein al-Attas in a public forum about "social cost" which i attended. He said we can calculate how much money to produce a doctor, engineer or lawyer but we never can calculate how much is the cost for "social lost" by development.

Grand Saga ask for RM200 ~ RM 400 Million as loses... can the society ask for RM 200 ~ 400 BILLION Ringgit as the lost of travelling time, petrol, inter-relation between community, inconvenience, insurance for any emergency incident delayed cause by the closure, frustration having facing all the inconvenience and loses of human touch with people around them!


Professor Syed Hussein al-Attas

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