Wednesday April 1, 2009
MBPJ to start towing cars parked at illegal spots
By TAN KARR WEI
IT’S no April Fool’s Day joke when you find your car missing today if you have parked it at an illegal spot earlier. It has probably been towed away by enforcement personnel of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
It was announced at the MBPJ full board meeting yesterday that effective today, cars or other vehicles parked illegally in designated towing zones in Petaling Jaya would be towed away.
According to MBPJ enforcement department head Mohd Fauzi Maarop, Zon Tunda (towing zones) signboards have been put up at various locations in the city for the past one month.
The locations are Section 8, Section 52, Jalan Chantek in Section 5, SS6 in Kelana Jaya, Section 14, SS2, and Damansara Uptown in SS21.
A motorist will have to settle the RM300 compound before he can get back his car from the storage area in SS8/2. He will also be charged a storage fee of RM10 for the first day, followed by RM5 for each subsequent day the car remains there.
“We will put a chalk marking on the road after the cars are towed away and the police will also be informed when an operation takes place,” Fauzi said.
Councillor Chan Chee Kong said the RM150 charged by the towing company for each car towed was high compared with market rates.
According to mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman, the company was hired through an open tender process and only three companies submitted proposals.
Fauzi said if the councillors felt that the charge was too high, they would not award the contract for the time being and the enforcement team would make do with the council’s one tow truck.
Councillor Derek Fernandez, meanwhile, raised the issue of the confidentiality of the MBPJ sub-committee meeting minutes, saying that some of the documents were sent to several PJ assemblymen.
According to an officer from the MBPJ legal department, the minutes are confidential and classified under the Official Secrets Act.
Fernandez said he would lodge a police report regarding the circulated documents.
Another hot topic debated at the meeting concerns the decision against the waiver of the RM10 dog licence fee for the disabled and senior citizens.
Councillor Tang Fuie Koh wanted the matter discussed again but councillor Latheefa Koya insisted that all the views had been considered during the committee meeting.
Councillor Anthony Thanasayan said dogs were important to the disabled and supported the motion for the issue to be brought back to the committee.
“This will involve the re-drafting of our bylaws. The RM10 is an administrative cost and it doesn’t make sense that someone can afford to keep a dog but not afford the RM10 a year,” Latheefa said.
In his wrap-up speech, Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San asked the council to be prepared for the PJ redevelopment plans under the stimulus package announced by the Selangor government.
“Most of the planning approvals issued in PJ are for commercial and mixed development. Until and unless we have an efficient transport system, the city can’t cope with the additional traffic. The council is responsible for solving the traffic issues in PJ,” Lau said.
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