Disabled-friendly entrance to local park by MBPJ

Council puts parks up for adoption Sheila Sri Priya

aman Jaya, PJ’s oldest park, now has an open area set aside for the handicapped near its second entrance at Jalan 10/3, Section 10.

PETALING JAYA: Parks for adoption is the idea thought up by the city council to encourage cleanliness and prevent vandalism in city parks.

Zuraidah Sainan

There are 440 small parks in Petaling Jaya that can be adopted by residents' associations. Two of the three larger parks namely Taman Aman and Taman Bandaran have been adopted. However Taman Jaya is not.

Zuraidah Sainan, the director of the city's landscape department, said the response has been encouraging and she was confident that all parks would be adopted soon.

However a small group of residents are against the idea as they believe that the welfare of parks is the responsibility of the council.

Zuraidah said: "Residents' associations are encouraged to adopt the parks in their area because they will be able to monitor the parks better.

"Residents shouldn't be selfish. They should learn to care for public amenities in their areas. They need not fork out money for this purpose. The respective contractors appointed by the council will be doing the routine cleaning jobs and the residents will only have to take care of the existing facilities."

Zuraidah said private companies have been roped in as sponsors. Canon and Parkson Departmental Store are tied with Taman Bandaran and Taman Kota Damansara. "We are still looking for a sponsor for Taman Jaya," she added saying that more talks were being held.

She said the SS20 residents in Damansara Utama and Damansara Kim were to be lauded for keeping their parks beautiful and maintaining a clean environment.

"The residents there are directly involved in ensuring a pleasant neighbourhood. They should be a shining example for the other associations to follow."

She said RM2.6 million has been allocated for the upkeep of the parks, of which RM1.2 is for the three larger parks.

Zuraidah revealed that there was a five-year beautification plan for all PJ parks. "There are scheduled upgrading works for each park but due to the heavy usage and vandalism the council is wasting a lot of money on repair works.

"There has been a lot of requests for parks to be cemented so that activities such as line dancing can be held. But the residents have failed to realise that a grass area is also important."

Zuraidah said the grass acts as a natural water drainage system. "Rain will be absorbed by the soil but sometimes it is normal for water to remain on the surface for about 24 hours after a heavy downpour."

Taman Jaya, PJ's oldest park, was opened in 1964. Recently, an open area was set aside for the handicapped near the Jalan 10/3 entrance.

Zuraidah said there are plans to provide pedestrian access from Jalan Gasing to the park early next year.

"Other plans are to upgrade and open the parking area to Taman Jaya LRT users. The toilets, food kiosks, car parks and other facilities will also undergo beautification work.

"Residents in other areas are urged to be patient as every park will receive its turn for beautification works."