RAWANG residents have been waiting in vain for a dual carriageway connecting the town to Bandar Country Homes.

With the dual carriageway not built, it has affected more than 100,000 residents in many areas travelling from this part of the township to the city.

Daily toil: Motorists in the area have to face taking up to three hours just to get home from work due to the jam.

Residents of townships like Kota Emerald, Bandar Country Homes, Kampung Sungai Bakau, Kampung Sungai Bakau Tambahan, Bandar Tasik Puteri, Taman Velox, Taman Desa Mas, Batu Arang, Puteri Heights, Desa Mutiara, Casa Ria, Saujana Rawang and Kota Bidari have to brave themselves for the massive traffic jam every day and some take three hours to reach work in spite of leaving the house as early as 6am.

In the evenings, it is the same when the traffic jam starts after 5pm and will continue up to 9pm, especially when it floods.

In recent years, Rawang residents have heard different views from former leaders and current leaders but all they want is for the dual carriageway to be built.

Bandar Country Homes Residents Association chairman Soong Beng Khoon said residents were fed up of excuses given by the politicians while some had even moved out to other areas in Petaling Jaya and Damansara.

“The work on the dual carriageway was supposed to start in 2007 under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

“We want the authorities and the politicians to stop politicising the issue and tell us, once and for all, when the matter will be laid to rest. Don’t give us false hope and empty promises.

“Rawang residents want to know when the dual carriageway will be ready. And, if the project has been cancelled, tell us the truth, that’s all,’’ he said.

Bandar Country Homes resident Madhu Marimuthu said residents in the surrounding area had to deal with two or three hour jams each time it rained as Jalan Sungai Bakau-Batang Berjuntai from Rawang town to Bandar Country Homes often floods due to the river nearby.

“The dual carriageway is like an unsolved mystery with politicians pointing fingers at each other over the problem. I hope the relevant parties will shed some light on the issue,’’ he said.

Nix Chung, who lives in Templer’s Park, has to travel to his office in the Rawang Integrated Industrial Park daily and has never failed to encounter a traffic jam.

According to Chung, the widening of Jalan Sungai Bakau-Bandar Country Homes is 26 years overdue and the population is increasing in the surrounding townships heading towards Bandar Tasik Puteri.

Chia Hock Chye, 46, who has lived in Bandar Country Homes for the last 14 years and travels to work in Kuala Lumpur, said many of his neighbours had already moved out as they could not bear to face the jams.

Daniel Soo, 50, who also lives in Bandar Country Homes, said he had worked in Nilai for the last 12 years and often reached home after 10pm.

“I know that I will get caught in the traffic jam if I come home early, So, I leave my office at about 9pm to avoid it,’’ he said.

Selayang MP WIlliam Leong explained that the dual carriageway was supposed to be built in two stages under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

The first stage is from the Rawang toll to Rawang town while the second stage is from the Rawang toll to Bandar Tasik Puteri, with a total cost of RM68mil when the project was first proposed in the early 1990s.

“The project was supposed to start in July last year and I have brought up the matter in Parliament and was told that they still needed between RM150 and RM180mil as the costs involved have increased over the years.

“Rawang residents are suffering the jams daily and the dual carriageway project is long overdue,’’ he said.