Kuching: Residents along Jalan Setia Raja are demanding clarification from the Sarawak government and project consultants after discovering that the alignment of the Automated Rapid Transit (ART) system track has been altered from the original plan.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak Chairman, Chong Chieng Jen, who visited the site following complaints from residents, stated that the residents also question how they will be properly compensated for the loss of their peaceful enjoyment of their homes due to the construction of the ART track directly above their compounds.
“It was found out that the initial plan for the alevated ART track in the approved Environment Investigation Report (EIR) was that the alevated track was supposed to be constructed in the middle of the road.
“However, for reasons unknown to the residents, the initial plan was changed and the track will now be constructed above the houses along the Jalan Setia Raja,” he said in a statement.
Chong, who is also Stampin MP, said the contractor was carrying out piling for the alevated ART track along Jalan Setia Raja, and the piling was just a few feet from the fences of the house.
“By the look of it, the pillars to be constructed will just follow the fences, and the ART track to be built will be overhanging the compound of the houses. This is an encroachment into the reasonable airspace of the houses.
“All the residents are asking for is for the government to revert to the original ART track along Jalan Setia Raja and not to construct the pillars of the track right next to their fences and the track above their house compound,” he said.
He added that a person’s house is his castle, and it is also a constitutional right that no one is to be deprived of their property or right to enjoy it without reasonable compensation.
“Due to the proximity of the site to the house, the residents can also constantly feel the vibration when piling is carried out, and have to breathe in the fumes from the machine all day round.
“The Government ought not just ignore the plight and suffering of the residents brought about by its plan of development and continue to allow the property rights of the residents to be trampled upon. The yardstick by which a government is measured is how it treats the minority, who are the residents here,” he said.
