Highways to nowhere

By CHARLES FERNANDEZ

TRAVELLING in the Klang Valley can be a breeze, tolls notwithstanding, thanks to a network of highways. However, some of these highways stick out like a sore thumb as they have not been completed according to schedule.

There are many factors that cause these projects to slow down or even halt halfway through construction and the main problem is usually financial.

No way through: The signs are in place but access to the SKVE is blocked by concrete blocks.

Other factors include land acquisition and disputes with landowners pertaining to compensation.

In most cases, companies hired to do the job find themselves involved in a tussle, delaying the timeframe to complete construction of the highways.

Several highway projects suffered similar fates and, while most are completed within the stipulated period, there have been some that were temporarily abandoned only to be revived several years later.

In the Klang Valley, three such projects come to mind, the Lebuhraya Kajang-Seremban (Lekas), the South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE) and the B15 state road in Sepang.

The 43km three-lane dual-carriageway SKVE from Pulau Indah to Nilai started on a positive note in 1998 but only the first phase from Nilai to Cyberjaya was completed two years later and the second phase of the project from Cyberjaya to Pulau Indah was abandoned due to financial constraints.

In July last year, the then Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu announced that a RM1.1bil contract had been awarded to complete the SKVE.

Almost there: The B15 link road leading to KLIA was delayed after the company contracted to do the job ran into financial difficulties.

He did not disclose the name of the company hired to do the job but reported that the contracted period to complete construction was 42 months.

However, there have been no signs of the project taking of since then.

If completed, the SKVE from Pulau Indah, connecting the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) interchange to Nilai, would pass through Pulau Carey.

While technical aspects of the highway construction are being discussed, there is good news for motorists on the highly anticipated 44.3km Lekas project.

After a delay of more than five years, the highway will be completed by the end of January 2010, barring any further incidences.

Malaysia Highway Authority (MHA) director-general Datuk Mohamad Razali Othman said they are hopeful the highway will be completed by 2010.

“There are some teething problems on the Mantin-Paroi alignment but, hopefully, this can be sorted out soon,” Mohamad said.

The highway is designed to pass through Semenyih, Pajam, Mantin and Temiang and link to the Seremban Inner Ring Road.

“It will serve as an effective traffic dispersal route for the highly congested Kajang and Seremban town centres,” Mohamad added.

The project was approved by the government in 1997 and construction began in 2002. However, the financial problems faced by the original concessionaire, Kajang-Seremban Highway Sdn Bhd (Kaseh) forced the construction works to be delayed.

The project was revitalised in November 2006 after a takeover by a new concessionaire, Lebuhraya Kajang-Seremban Sdn Bhd (Lekas), with 50% of the stake held by IJM Corporation Bhd and the rest by the original concessionaire, Kaseh.

The project is scheduled for completion by December 2009 but an extension of time (EOT) is provided for realignment on the Mantin-Paroi line.

The package 1A from the SILK Interchange to Kajang Selatan has been completed and opened to public. The package 1B from the Kajang Selatan Interchange to Pajam Interchange will be completed by August.

Package 2A from Pajam to Mantin will be completed in December, while Package 2B from Mantin to Setul and package 3 from Setul to Paroi will be completed in January next year.

Mohamed said part of the alignment between the Mantin Interchange and the Setul Interchange has to be approved for realignment, thus the EOT was sought.

The Star Online