IT has been a month since the fatal accident that robbed the life of a couple on April 1, leaving their eight-month-old an orphan.
Forest Heights residents have long called for the local council to install traffic lights at the main entrance towards the neighbourhood, which houses over 2,000 residences and two schools.
The knee-jerk reaction from the Seremban City Council to shut down the traffic lights from Forest Heights towards Seremban town has exacerbated the traffic flow, pushing motorists through Dusun Setia for their daily commute to Seremban town and the Plus Highway.
Dusun Setia emerged in the 1980s, and the road lacks sufficient capacity to cater to the massive influx of cars, especially when it is just meters from most of the houses in the area.
As a former committee member of the Residents Association of Aster and Begonia 2020, I submitted a request to the Seremban City Council via the Sispa (complaints) system on Sept 8, 2020, urging the council to install traffic lights at the junction. Despite my numerous follow-ups, the response from the authorities has been disappointingly slow.
I even enlisted the help of the Senawang State Assemblyman Gunasekaren Palasamy to pursue the matter. He brought up this request four times at the State Assembly sitting. However, on July 18, 2022, the case was closed, with the responsibility shifted to the developer, Sunrise MCL Land.
In the wake of the tragic accident that has shaken Forest Heights residents, we are still awaiting a proper response from the Seremban City Council on the matter. Instead, all we have witnessed is another knee-jerk reaction: the closure of the junction where the accident occurred, a move that only worsens the situation.
When will Seremban City Council wake up and address the complaints, especially considering their headquarters is less than 200m away from where the accident occurred?
