PUTRAJAYA – Although the National Day celebrations at Dataran Putrajaya today were a fun occasion for most, the journey home has turned into a traffic nightmare.
Almost every road near Dataran Putrajaya is congested with cars and motorcycles as they head towards the nearest exits.
Scoop spoke to several motorists who were stuck in the jam, all of whom lamented how they waited for hours only to move a very short distance.
A motorist who goes by Khadir said he waited in traffic for more than two hours to move a few metres towards the exit road just 50m away.
“What can you do, everyone wants to go to the same exit.”
Another motorist said he only drove about 100m in the last three hours.
It is the same predicament for those who are taking public transport.
When asked, a “Merdeka Day shuttle bus” commuter told Scoop that he had waited for two hours in traffic and later flashed a peace sign with a bemused expression.
However, a pregnant woman seemed to be having a bad time waiting in line, as she had been queueing for the bus for more than an hour.
“It’s so close, yet so far. I can see the shuttle bus on its way. But because of the traffic, it’s not moving.
“Initially, the shuttle service was running smoothly, and then everyone left at the same time.”
A traffic police officer on duty said the roads here saw heavy traffic today before the Merdeka parade started.
“Traffic in the morning was due to people coming to the square. Now, it’s because everyone is leaving. The traffic has not slowed down at all.”
However, according to a satellite navigation app, it would take half an hour to get to Putrajaya Sentral MRT station from Dataran Putrajaya, which is 5km away. – August 31, 2023