Temporary victory good enough

Saturday May 31, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: The residents of Bandar Mahkota Cheras are happy and relieved that the issue concerning the toll-free access road is settled for now.

However, they wished that it could have been solved much earlier and without the need for the situation to turn tense.

Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Committee chairman Tan Boon Wah said the Government should not have let the issue drag on for more than two years.

“However, I am glad that it has come to a happy ending and the rakyat is grateful for the Works Minister’s announcement,” he said in reaction to Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed's announcement that the Cabinet had decided that the road into Bandar Cheras Mahkota should not be barricaded.

Lee Ah Seng, 48, who sustained injuries on his forehead during the scuffle between the residents and alleged thugs said the long wait has been worthwhile.

“If only the Government had listened to us in the first place, all these disputes would not have taken place,” said Lee, a hardware store owner in nearby Bandar Sungei Long.

His friend Pang Nam Onn, 44, said ever since he bought a property in Bandar Mahkota Cheras five-years ago, his main problem had been the morning traffic jams which resulted from the area having more than 20 housing estates.

“Now with the decision to open the access road we will have a choice of two exit points.”