Residents suggest leasing roads from the state

Residents suggest leasing roads from the state
By TAN KARR WEI


SOME residents in Petaling Jaya are calling for the Selangor state government to consider leasing roads to the residents’ associations to gate up their communities.

The issue was brought up during a town hall meeting at the BU3 community hall in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, with Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong and Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah.

Wong said that the meeting came about because there have been many requests, complaints and suggestions from residents regarding gated and guarded communities.


Keep out: More and more housing areas in the Klang Valley are taking up the gated and guarded security scheme but only about 50 residents (below) turned up for the meeting.
About 50 people attended the meeting.

Gated and guarded communities have been a widely debated issue as many residents’ associations have started to put up barriers and guard houses to secure their housing areas. Under the Street, Drainage and Building Act 133, it is illegal to put up barriers that obstruct access to public roads.

Several residents posed the question of leasing the roads from the state government and asked if they would be charged the market rate or a nominal rate.

Wong said that the matter would be discussed at the state level in a meeting on Nov 2.

Among the issues raised was the difficulty of getting residents to commit to the scheme.

Bandar Utama Residents Association (BURA) chairman Datuk Manpal Singh Sacdev said that the key objective of barricading roads was to make their homes safe and he suggested that the local councils grant allocations to RAs who could not get enough support from residents.

“It is hard to get more than 90% as some houses are rented out to tenants,” Manpal said.

He also suggested councils look at approving developments with less exit points to prevent quick getaways by criminals.

“Currently, the barriers are allowed from midnight to 6am and that is not solving the problem because many crimes happen during the day,” said Manpal.

Resident Dali Sardar from D’Villa Avenue in Kota Damansara said that the problem was that residents could not rely on the police to ensure safety and many residents were allowing foreigners to guard their houses.

He added that the local council should make it legal for gated communities to collect maintenance fees since RAs were having trouble collecting the fees from all residents.

Manpal suggested that RAs should set out a written contract with the obligations of the security company that they hire.

“Create a standard operating procedure for them. You should also list down when and how you can terminate their services so that they don’t continue to insist on payment,” Manpal said.

Taman Mayang Jaya residents association chairman Liew Wei Beng said that as many areas started to set up barriers, the criminals would move on to areas which have not been secured.

To overcome the legal issues, Liew suggested that RAs have mobile security patrolling the area instead of barricading the roads.

Liew, who is also All Petaling Jaya Residents Association (APAC) chairman, reminded residents that gates and barriers are a temporary measure that should be removed once crime rates are lowered, especially after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced a RM1b allocation to beef up the police force and reduce crime.

Several residents from housing areas sold as gated communities by the developers also raised the predicament as they have had to pay maintenance fees for services within their area while also having to pay assessment to the local councils.

Notably absent at the meeting were residents who were opposed to the guarded schemes.

theStar: Residents suggest leasing roads