DBKL suspends ‘spruce up’ order to Petaling Street shop owners

 

DBKL has urged shop owners along Petaling Street to keep their premises ‘clean and safe’.

PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has suspended a directive to certain traders to clean up their buildings in the light of financial difficulties that they are facing.

A number of business owners along Petaling Street had complained that they had been asked to wash or repaint their shops under Section 75 of the Local Government Act 1971.

In a statement today, DBKL said it had expanded its Urban Beautification Programme to Lorong Petaling, Lorong Sultan and Lorong Bandar, which covered almost 200 premises.

Of these, only 16 had been instructed to keep their buildings “clean and safe”, it said.

However, it said, the directive had been temporarily suspended out of concern over the difficulties faced by city residents, including building owners, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is to ensure that building owners have enough time, space and the ability to take action to clean their buildings,” it said.

Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun had hit out at DBKL previously, saying struggling businesses should not be saddled with extra costs at this time.

Fong said it would cost about RM10,000 to repaint each building, which the owners could not afford.

“There has been no business for more than a year. This means they have no money. This additional cost will burden them,” he told FMT. - FMT