Subang Jaya municipal councillors feel there is an urgent need for a crematorium in Puchong.

K. Arumugam said it was the local council’s responsibility to provide the facility under Section 94 of the Local Government Act, which specifies that “a local authority may provide suitable places within or without the local authority area to be used as burial grounds or crematoria and shall make proper provision for maintaining the same”.

He said it was timely for the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) to build a crematorium as there have been many requests from the residents.

“Currently, they have to travel to Petaling Jaya or Shah Alam to utilise the facility,” he said.

Tai Cheng Heng agreed, adding that there was a need for the crematorium since land was expensive and scarce.

Arumugam said the MPSJ urban planning department was looking for the best location to house the crematorium and it would most probably be in Puchong.

“The council allocated RM350,000 last year for the project, and we had recommended another RM2mil for next year’s budget,” he said.

Rajiv Rishyakaran said with more funds, an extra burner could be purchased for standby.

Arumugam added that the council should maintain the facility once it is built instead of privatising it.

“If we privatise it, the costs charged by the operator might be higher. More people can benefit from the service if it remains under the council,” he said.

ALL the relevant information on the proposed Kelana Jaya LRT line extension into Subang Jaya was available during the three-month public display last year, said a Prasarana (Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd) spokesman.
“In addition to a map of the train route and station locations, the railway schemes clearly showed each station’s design, lay-by and other details,” he said.
“We had Prasarana employees on hand at the display venues to explain the details.
“All the stations have lay-bys and drop-off zones, which have been designed to not ‘eat into’ the existing roads.”
The representative was speaking in response to a StarMetro article published on July 3 headlined Subang folk want more info on LRT extension.
He said numerous meetings and public dialogues had been held with residents associations, NGOs, disabled groups, as well as state and local government authorities on the proposed LRT extension.
“While some information could not be given out earlier due to land and property speculation, all our procedures and technical requirements have been done according to the law,” said the representative.
On the of lack of park-and-ride facilities, he said it was due to land acquisition problems.
“Stations 5 to 9 (SS15 Subang Jaya to USJ14) are located at heavily built-up zones with not much space to build park-and-ride facilities.
“But there will be 1,400 parking bays at Station 4 (Subang Jaya KTM), 1,500 bays at Station 7 (USJ7), and 700 bays at Station 10 (USJ21), with Station 4 being integrated with Subang Jaya KTM Komuter Station.
“There can never be enough park-and-ride facilities, which is why we need an efficient and effective feeder bus system,” said the representative.
“We are working with the local authorities, residents associations, business communities and RapidKL to work out the feeder bus routes based on high density areas, demand pattern and efficient turning points.
“We are looking at, say, a feeder bus service every 15 minutes so people don’t have to drive to the stations. To address illegal parking, there is a need for stricter enforcement and proper civic awareness”
On the close proximity of several stations, the Prasarana representative said that a distance of 500-600m to 1.4-1.5km between two stations is an acceptable stretch.
“If there is a large distance between the stations, then there will be a lot of ground-level congestion at an individual station when people congregate at one station to board the train.
“The LRT line is coming in after the townships are already built up. So a detailed study based on the optimisation factor was carried out to ensure minimum social impact and technical requirements were adhered to, while also considering the population density and land availability.
On ridership figures, the spokesman said they were based on the projected figures by the Census Board.
“It is estimated that the population would number close to 160,000 people by 2015 at the areas around Stations 5 to 10 (SS15 Subang Jaya to USJ21), and close to 200,000 people by 2020,” he said.
The spokesman stressed that in addition to being a solution to traffic congestion, the survival of a high-density area depends on public transport.
Asked about the land acquisition issue at Saujana Residency, he said the matter would be sorted out with the Department of Railways, Prasarana and the local authorities.
On the next step, the spokesman said Prasarana is presently working with the local authorities and state government to review the final portion of the LRT alignment and sort out land constraints issues.
The proposed Kelana Jaya LRT extension line will commence from Lembah Subang – Kelana Business Centre, through Subang, USJ, Alam Megah and ending at the hub in Putra Heights.
The proposed line will consists of 13 new stations and 17km of guideway.
The Ampang LRT extension line will commence from the present Sri Petaling station, passing through Puchong, Kinrara and ending at the hub in Putra Heights.
The proposed line will consist of 13 new stations and 17.7km of guideway. All stations will have facilities such as lifts, escalators, public telephones, surau and toilets.
The stations will also be equipped with facilities for the physically disabled such as ramps, lifts, tac-tiles, ticket counters and toilets.
Both the Kelana Jaya and Ampang lines are expected to be commissioned by end of 2012.
While the deadline for the public feedback has ended, information on the proposed LRT extension is available at www.lrtextension.com.