Whither DBKL’s accountability, responsiveness to mere ratepayers?

 

By KL ratepayer

All of us who live or work in Kuala Lumpur know that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is a mighty bureaucratic machine that impacts our lives in one way or another.

Given the organisation’s importance, one would expect a reasonable level of accountability and responsiveness from DBKL to the residents and ratepayers of KL.

The experience on the ground, however, tells a very different story.

For many decades, residents of the bungalows and low-rise apartments in a 200-metre-long street in Ampang Hilir enjoyed the peace and quiet of living in a short, dead-end residential street … until one day in May 2022, a trendy café (the IG-worthy type) opened in one of the low-rise blocks, taking up almost the entire ground floor.

Soon cars were parking illegally on both sides of the congested street despite the yellow line “no parking” restriction.

It being a dead-end street, there was only one way in and one way out, so cars had to do U-turns on this narrow street to find parking and to exit.

Ride-sharing cars and delivery trucks doing the same only added to the mayhem during peak operational hours.

To add insult to injury, the operators of the café converted the kerbside opposite the café into 90-degree parking lots, effectively turning a two-lane street into one, with cars having to manouevre tightly to get in and out of parking spaces.

In short, the operation of the café now posed nuisance and safety concerns to the residents.

How did DBKL allow a commercial business with such a disruptive impact to open in a residential building on a residential street?

Online complaints were lodged by property owners on the DBKL online portal (adukl.dbkl.gov.my). Receipt of the complaints was acknowledged, but none of the concerns raised were addressed.

Representations were made to the Titiwangsa MP, but his mediation only resulted in DBKL officers giving out parking infringement notices to a few cars on perhaps two or three occasions.

The residents’ queries on how the café operators managed to obtain a licence to operate in a residential area and why they were allowed to convert a yellow-line kerbside into 90-degree parking lots were ignored.

Does this suggest that commercial businesses are now free to set up wherever they want with no thought as to the consequences their operations may have on surrounding residents and with no restrictions from the local authorities?

A letter signed by the café’s neighbours, representing some 40 property parcels owners who pay annual rates to DBKL, with accompanying photos of the unacceptable vehicle congestion was sent to the previous Datuk Bandar.

A subsequent letter was sent to the new Datuk Bandar.

Neither letter solicited any response from DBKL – not even an acknowledgment of receipt.

Copies of these letters were also handed in person to the higher management of DBKL at the Sesi Draf Pelan Struktur KL 2040 in May.

To date, there is still nothing but deafening silence from the authorities.

The Malaysia Madani concept, espoused by almost every government body now includes the concepts of respect, shared trust and good governance.

However, the way DBKL treats its own residents and ratepayers, as exemplified above, seems to make a mockery of this concept.

The deafening silence from DBKL would seem to point to either a total failure in the organisation’s ability to respond to its residents and ratepayers, or a deliberate strategy to not address the issues at hand for whatever reasons.

How much longer will this state of affairs be allowed to continue? - FMT

KL ratepayer is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.