By Danial Dzulkifly
SHAH ALAM, Feb 25 — Technical challenges and Selangor’s dense development are among the key reasons why applications submitted through Selangor Utility Corridor (Kusel) take up to three months for approval.
State executive councillor for infrastructure and agriculture Dato’ Izham Hashim said Kusel faces major challenges in managing utility lines due to the overlapping developments in Selangor.
“Land in Selangor is largely saturated, leaving little to no space for utility lines. This is because the state is fully developed, with infrastructure often overlapping.
“As a result, we need to find innovative solutions to manage these utility lines effectively,” he said during question-and-answer time at the State Legislative Assembly session today.
Izham noted that the high cost of relocating utility lines can reach up to 50 per cent of the total development cost.
“Although Kusel was established relatively late, it plays a crucial role in ensuring that our utility lines are properly managed and organised,” he said in response to Hulu Kelang state assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s supplementary question on Kusel’s lengthy approval process.
The state Opposition leader also questioned whether the application process would contradict the Speed Selangor policy, which aims to reduce planning approval from three months to 14 days.
Izham agreed with Azmin, adding that there is a need to innovate in their approval process to expedite any application.
“I agree with Hulu Kelang that we should find ways to expedite applications, not just for Kusel but for any other processes as well. There is no need to dawdle… instead, we must accelerate the application process, including tenders. For example, reducing the timeline from six months to three months.
“Innovation in approvals is always an ongoing effort. In the early stages, the process was longer, but we have made improvements to expedite it while also acknowledging the technical challenges,” he said.
The standard process for any business applying to Kusel involves site visits, approval for right-of-way, document preparation, utility detection mapping, traffic management plans, conditional permit approvals, payments, and the issuance of permits.
The minimum process time, according to the established standard operating procedures, can take between two and a half months and a maximum of three months.
However, Izham stressed that applicants should also work closely with Kusel to ensure the smooth approval of their application.
