By CHRISTINA LOW
christinalow@thestar.com.my
THE only approved gated and guarded community among the 16 operated by the residents associations in Petaling Jaya is the one from Damansara Jaya.
Another 28 residents associations (RA) which are operating gated and guarded service in Petaling Jaya have not obtained approval from the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
The council’s engineering director, Cheremi Tarman, said during a briefing on Sunday that the Damansara Jaya Residents and Owners Association (DJROA) was the only one approved so far.
“The application by DJROA was the only one approved for gated and guarded community out of the 16 applications we received while the 28 other housing areas providing such facilities have not obtained approval from the council.”
Not allowed: The use of oil barrels like in SS2, Petaling Jaya, will have to be removed.
Cheremi said the council had approved DJROA’s application as they had fulfilled the criteria under the term “guarded community”.
“They have 85% of the residents giving consent for the service and the security booths do not obstruct traffic,” said Cheremi during his presentation on guarded community to about 100 residents representing their associations in the city.
With photographs to assist, he pointed out the several gated and guarded community schemes which had guardhouses obstructing the traffic as well as those using oil barrels as gates for backlanes and main roads at night.
“Gated community areas should not hinder vehicles from entering the area by putting up barricades. The local authorities have the right to enter such housing areas at any time of the day,” said Cheremi, adding that this was one of the Selangor Housing Property Board’s guidelines and which MBPJ had been adhering to.
The other guideline is that each security booth should only measure 6m x 8m.
Obstructions classified as critical
· Barriers placed on public roads which cannot be removed;
· Barriers that could affect the current traffic flow in the area;
· Barriers using a pass or an autogate system; and
· Action taken on barriers if the council receives complaints from residents in the area and after investigation had been conducted.
He said in the council’s infrastructure and traffic advisory meeting in December last year, it was agreed that action would be taken on permanent structures while the council would also not take responsibility for the demolition costs or the removal of the barriers. This would have to be borne by the residents.
He went on to enlighten the residents on the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133) 46 (1)(a) that states that any person who builds, erects, sets up or maintained any wall, fence, rail, post or any accumulation of any substance or any obstruction in any public place shall be guilty of causing an obstruction.
The Road Transport Act 1987 states that any person who places objects across a road that endangers lives will be fined or imprisoned for a term not exceeding six months or both.
All in order: The guardhouse in Damansara Jaya.
MBPJ enforcement and security director Mohd Fauzi Maarop then took over with another presentation on MBPJ’s suggestion to introduce auxiliary police in the city.
Fauzi said application for MBPJ’s auxilliary police was sent to both the Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar as well as the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan on Feb 26. They hope to have 100 personnel involved.
The application for the RM4.2mil project was turned down on March 22 and the council reapplied again on March 25 and would only know the final outcome in two months.
Fauzi also specified the 15 duties of the auxilliary police officers and why they were needed to keep the city safe.
However, after a repetition of several points and duties, Fauzi’s auxilliary police presentation was the first to be questioned by the residents during the Q&A session.
“You are applying for 100 police bantuan, then you want them to guard the courts and the MPBJ. Then the 100 people would be of no use and the residents are not going to see the use for them.
“As far as I know, police bantuan are meant to assist police where the police cannot get access to residential areas. It is no wonder that the IGP turned down the application. We must get our act together first. There was not enough deliberation before proposing the idea to the IGP,” said a resident from Section 18.
A resident from Kelana Jaya said he too did not agree on the duties that the auxiliary police would be undertaking.
“With only 100 officers in 25 zones in the city, I don’t think they would have time for the residents as they would be busy guarding the courts and escorting VIPs,” said the resident.
Councillor Derek Fernandez who was at the meeting was quick to rebut, stating that the residents had overlooked the main point of the presentation by Fauzi.
“The main reason is protection in the area you are talking about, and all the other areas are subsidiary duties,” said Fernandez, referring to the list mentioned by Fauzi like assisting MBPJ officers in raids, on duty at its free trade zone, escorting VIPs, checking illegal foreign workers and other duties set by the council.
Another resident said his housing area decided to implement only the guarded community concept after reading the problems in setting up a gated and guarded community.
He said for a guarded community. the residents only had to employ guards to make rounds in their housing area.
“Why do we need the consent of so many people when we are not a gated community. I feel that we do not have to have such a clause as long as the residents within the housing area are agreeable to paying the guards each month.
“We are not disturbing anyone, we don’t have boom gates, we don’t have pass cards.”
Fernandez then continued to give his explanation on the gated and guarded community problems faced by the council.
“The problem here is not that MBPJ wants to victimise the RAs. The fact that there are 28 that do not comply with the law and that we have not taken any drastic action shows that we sympathise with their problems,
“We recognise the need of the residents to protect their homes. We have to operate within the law and we feel that the law presently does not allow the barricades and the closure of roads.”
At present he said MPBJ was only taking down barriers in critical areas like those which were causing traffic congestion and the removal of oil barrels that had been said to be a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
DJROA president Yew Cheng Hoe said he was surprised when MBPJ announced the decision at the meeting.
“When we started in 2008, we gave the council, police and the fire stations all our plans, and we will brief them whenever there are any changes,” said Yew when contacted.
He added that crime in the area had reduced from about 35 cases a month to about two now.
Note: This news (Tuesday, 6 April 2010) was taken from http://thestar.com.my/metro/central.
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