Penang’s flats from hell

 

Residents say rubbish bags will ‘land like bombs’ in the middle of the night.

There was also a cleaner whose forearms swelled an hour after she picked up some rubbish. The swelling was believed to have been caused by bacteria.

Anparasan Selvadurai, the secretary of the Teluk Indah Flats management body, confirmed the horror stories, saying he had personally taken cleaners for treatment at a clinic a number of times.

He said the committee has told the state authorities about their problems and estimates that about RM1 million is needed for measures that may result in cleaner living for the residents of the two 21-storey blocks of flats in Perai.

“We’ve been living in hell” for the past five years, Anparasan told FMT.

He proposed the installation of:

• An access-card system that will permit entry only to residents who have paid their maintenance fees;
• CCTV cameras at 32 strategic locations;
• Netting for each floor to deter rubbish dumping; and
• Two water pumps to replace the ones that frequently break down.

The proposals are Anparasan’s own. He said he volunteered to be the committee’s secretary because no one else was willing to take the position.

He also proposed that all six lifts, which frequently break down, be permanently fixed. They were all not working when FMT visited the flats.

Residents warned this reporter against lingering along the corridors, for fear of being hit by falling garbage.

“It smells really bad, especially during the heat of the day,” said factory worker Ashikin, who walked down 12 floors since the lifts were not working.

All six lifts in the complex are not working.

Rajes, who sells vegetables at the lift lobby, said rubbish bags would sometimes land like bombs in the middle of the night, waking up the residents.

“We have tried almost everything, but nothing is working,” Anparasan said. “We even placed large rubbish bins for the residents and told everyone to leave their rubbish at the lift lobby instead of throwing them down. No one listened.”

Anparasan conducts tuition classes, but his job at the building includes manually activating a pump supplying water to the higher floors.

He spoke of turning into a plumber even on the day his father died. This was about two weeks ago. Someone had stolen a device that stops the water from overflowing from a central tank and spilling like a waterfall onto the rubbish filled floor below.

One major problem is the lack of funds because residents are reluctant to pay the RM30 in monthly maintenance fees, he said.

Only 30% of the 1,008 units are occupied and half of them are rented out to foreigners.

Anparasan said many gotong-royong clean-up sessions had been held but conditions would revert to their original state soon afterwards.

He said the committee now had RM271 in its account and was reserving the amount for the cleaners’ hourly wages. Often, he said, he would pay the cleaners from his own pocket.

He admitted that the committee had received funds from the Penang government over the years, but said it was enough only for minor repairs, adding that a long-term solution was needed.

Motorcycles parked outside the Teluk Indah flats in Perai, Penang.

He said the accumulated water bill for the flats had reached RM1.5 million and the electricity bill arrears had reached RM500,000 in arrears.

Seberang Perai mayor Rozali Mohamud said the city council had repeatedly sent a cleaning crew armed with fire hoses to clean the area, the last time on Jan 22. The place reverted to its dirty state in three days, he said.

“We have been sending our crew to clean up once every three months,” he said. “We have been doing this since 2014.

“The state government even paid RM1 million for the electric bill dues some years ago.” - FMT