Judicial review bid over Lintas flyover project

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Nasip (seated, third from right) with the police reports lodged by the affected house owners during the press conference.

KOTA KINABALU: A group of disgruntled residents of Taman Milek Phase 1 in Luyang here have filed for a judicial review against the ongoing construction of the elevated U-turn (flyover) along Jalan Lintas here, which they alleged is too close to their property and poses grave danger to their safety.

The case has been scheduled for mention in the High Court here on October 10.

Taman Milek Phase 1 Residents Association president Nasip Roslan told a press conference here said the judicial review attempt is aimed at compelling the relevant authorities to follow the existing laws and regulations pertaining to implementation of projects funded with taxpayers’ money.

“As responsible citizens, we never intended to object to any development projects which benefit the public. However, if such project is seriously affecting our safety and wellbeing, we have the right to voice it, and by right, the government of the day should listen to our complaints and conduct a proper and transparent investigation to determine if the complaint is valid or otherwise.

“Unfortunately, despite our consistent efforts to highlight our plight through the media on several occasions, as well as numerous complaints lodged with the relevant government departments and agencies, the police included, nothing has been done to address the various issues arising from the construction of the flyover, which genuinely affect our wellbeing and poses serious threat to our safety.

“We have issued three press statements before this; the first one was in February 2018, the second and third were in May 2019. No one responded until today. We have also written to the offices of the Chief Minister, the Minister of Infrastructure Development, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), the Public Works Department (PWD), Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and the Luyang assemblyman. They have not responded until today,” he lamented.

He also expressed regret that certain former opposition politicians who seemed to empathise with them in the past, have now changed their attitude and completely ignore them, after coming to power and now holding important positions in the government.

He added that it is both unbecoming and unacceptable for these former opposition politicians to now attempt to wash their hands, by blaming the former regime for approving the said flyover project.

“These former opposition politicians who are now holding senior positions in the government should realise that, this project is the reason why a majority of us decided to vote for change in the last general election, in the hope that the new government would make a difference.

“They should not take us for granted as we can also vote them out when the time comes,” he reminded.

Nasip thus said they have no choice but to seek for legal recourse to their plight.

A total of 22 houses are affected by the project.

The judicial review among others seek to find out – if the proposed elevated U-turn, which they deemed as being too close to their houses, was designed based on the standard rules and regulations – what are the standards and regulations that allow for construction of such structure so close to their houses with no buffer zone for safety and security of the occupants of the houses – why was the location of the elevated U-turn shifted from the one originally approved in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – and why was the Association deprived from getting the latest EIA report on the project?

Nasip lamented that due to the close proximity of the construction works to the houses, the residents have been subjected to all sorts of nuisance-like pollution, vibration, noise from the drilling and piling which can be felt from a mile away. Sometimes, the vibrations caused by the drillings and pilings were so strong that they triggered off the house alarm.

“Two months ago, a senior resident was admitted to the hospital due to a heart attack that was triggered by continuous piling and vibration. And another resident suffered hearing impairment and needs to be checked every five days and has not recovered until today. There were also some residents who complained of dizziness due to the intense vibration.

“The construction works also did not adhere to the working hours of 8am-5pm stipulated in the EIA report. They sometimes start piling works before 8 am and continue overtime until late night. They even carried out construction works during weekend and public holidays, seriously disrupting our much-needed sleep.

“Since the beginning of the year, the structures of our houses too have been badly damaged with serious cracks appearing thus compromising our safety. We complained to the contractor and the relevant authorities, but they just ignored us, as if our lives are worth nothing,” he further lamented.

Thus far, a total of nine police reports had been lodged by the affected residents against the contractor over various incidents related to the flyover construction.

Also present during the press conference were Foo Hock Liang, vice president of the Association, its secretary Shirley, Lu Yien Kee, a committee member and several affected house owners.