(From left) Cheong, Lim and Leong cutting a ribbon in a symbolic opening of the newly upgraded Jalan PJU1/23 in Kampung Chempaka, Petaling Jaya.
RESIDENTS living along Jalan PJU1/23 in Kampung Chempaka, Petaling Jaya in Selangor, now have proper access to their homes after the former dirt road is tarred and upgraded.
The nearly 500m-long, 5m-wide road upgrade costing RM165,000 was made possible with funds allocated by Housing and Local Government Ministry.
Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillor for Zone 7 John Leong said residents had to use a dirt road for 55 years due to an error in the original plans drawn by the land office.
“The road originally intended for residents’ access was mistakenly drawn on a slope, hence it could not be built.
“To complicate the problem, the dirt road was then under Forestry Department ownership and is located under power lines which are under Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s purview.
“The problem took about a year to be resolved, through discussions and efforts involving different agencies across different government levels, including the ministry, MBPJ, Forestry Department and Petaling Land Office,” said Leong.
He added that the road’s land ownership has since been transferred to the land office.
Kampung Chempaka village chief Theresa Lim said Jalan PJU1/23 was the main road for 20 houses along it, and also provided alternative access for residents to get in and out of Kampung Chempaka.
The road links to Persiaran Tropicana on one end and Jalan PJU1/21 and Jalan PJU1/18 on the other.
“The previous dirt road made it difficult for residents to get in and out of their homes.
“There were reports of people getting injured or falling off motorcycles due to the road’s unevenness.
“If residents of Jalan PJU1/23 wanted to get their shopping or other errands done at Kampung Chempaka’s commercial hub, they would sometimes take a shortcut behind their homes. That route is only accessible on foot,” she said.
The ministry’s Chinese New Village Section village development officer Tony Cheong said the problem took a long time to be resolved as it involved many agencies and decades-old documents.
“My section is tasked with overseeing the upgrading and maintenance of Chinese new villages.
“We try to carry out one project per village per year.
“Kampung Chempaka is fortunate to benefit from two projects this year, with the other being the extension of its community hall,” said Cheong.
Leong said Jalan PJU1/23 residents would now get access to better services such as rubbish collection, as the lorries previously could not navigate the dirt road.
“The upgrade will also help MBPJ improve its services and enforcement.
“This area used to be a hotspot for illegal waste dumping and open burning as it was not visible from the main road,” he said.
Anbalagan Muniandy is one of the residents happy with the upgraded road.
“We have been living here since 1977 and had to put up with terrible road conditions for years,” he said, adding that car tyres and absorbers would get damaged due to the uneven road.
“We haven’t been able to get postal and food delivery sent directly to our homes.
“Delivery services will drop items off at a friend’s house at the end of the road and my family will collect it,” he said.
