Billboads & MPSJ

There has been a lot of news in the papers regarding billboards in MBPJ over the last one year. It is because they were the first to tackle this issue head on. Pretty soon we'll probably see MPSJ in the news, with the billboard operators mostly angry at MPSJ... But lets look at what has happened.

The history...

Pre 2009, there has been 3 categories of billboards in MPSJ areas.

1. Signage
- this is billboards under thier contract with MPSJ, special case. There have exclusivity in certain zones in exchange for constructing bus stops and pedestrian bridges throughout MPSJ.

2. Legal billboards
- This are other billboard operators who have constucted billboards legally. For a billboard to be legal, it needs
a) Planning Approval (Kebenaran Merancang) - given by MPSJ
b) Structural Permit - given by MPSJ
c) Visual License - given by MPSJ
d) If on govt land, need TOL (temporary occupancy license) - Land Office
Not many billboards comply with this, tho some actually have License without a) and b). Technically, MPSJ shouldn't have allowed for that, but somehow, pre-2008, all these were allowed.

3. Illegal billboards
- Some of these have no approval at all, and others just have visual license approved and paid.

This has not only caused a loss of income to MPSJ, but also a certain amount of chaos in moving forward.


The dilemma today...

For the purpose of this article, we will refer to the common billboard size, 10' x 40'. The normal rates (since MPSJ started in 1998 till now) is
a) Planning Approval (Kebenaran Merancang) - RM200
b) Structural Permit - RM250
c) Visual License - RM500/visual
d) Billboard license - RM5000
e) If on govt land, need TOL (temporary occupancy license) - previously RM2000, now RM3000
(there is also RM1000 deposit to MPSJ, RM5000 deposit on TOL)

Total due for 2009 is RM8950. However, which we might soon see in the papers, some of this billboard companies will be crying bloody murder, as they claim RM8950 is too expensive, killing their business. They will also claim that previously they only paid RM500 + RM1000 deposit for their billboards. They will claim that the sudden rates are an attempt to kill their rice bowl. They claim that the billboard occupancy rate is around 50% (really? I don't notice that many empty billboards around Subang Jaya, though I admit I've not gone around calculating), and per billboard they only earn an average of RM18k/yr.

Today we had a dialogue with such companies. We want to be fair, we gave them a chance to hear them out. It got pretty ugly at some points.


The future...

From 2010 onwards, based on the state guidelines, all billboards will pay 25% of their revenue to MPSJ under a profit sharing basis, instead of the respective fees.


The decision..
Considering that some billboard companies have been paying the full/proper rates before this, and are willing to do so for 2009, do we stick to this? Are we business un-friendly to do so? We don't want to destroy industries, really, that would also cost job losses and also less revenue to the goverment.

Merry Christmas!!!

Request for more street lights in USJ3 & USJ12

Today I have submitted a formal request to TNB to add more street lights in the areas of USJ3/3 and USJ12/1. This 2 areas are among those which has very little street lights. A lot of roads in these areas have only 2 street lights, one at each end of the road.

The specification given by MPSJ is here

Street lights for housing areas in under the jurisdiction of TNB, not MPSJ. We hope they will revert positively, and I'll be following up with them till we get it...

Coming up next is USJ11 & USJ9. If your area is in need, drop me an email...

Scooping after your dog...

A number of residents have raised the issue of dog poop, and why doesn't MPSJ force owners of dogs to scoop after their pets when they do their "business" in public areas.

MPSJ's bylaw on dog licensing already requires this. Please refer to Section 13 (2)
http://ocps.mpsj.gov.my/cms/documentstorage/com.tms.cms.document.Document_25a96383-a020f414-12146260-1ad2ad09/Undang-Undang%20Kecil%20ANJING.pdf

However, as we all know, enforcement is sorely lacking throughout MPSJ, especially in this area. You can read more about it here
http://www.rajiv4malaysia.com/2009/12/enforcement-lack-of-it-in-subang-jaya.html

I do hope, and will be working towards improving this..

Enforcement - the lack of it in Subang Jaya

A number of residents, myself included have been frustrated by the lack of enforcement (both police and local council actually). The problem we have is having only two hundred plus enforcement officers to cover:
  1. Traffic
  2. Hygiene
  3. Places of entertainment
  4. Business license
  5. Illegal/Ah long ads
  6. Building regulation
  7. Littering and illegal dumping of rubbish
  8. Use of public space
  9. Pets - including requiring dog owners to scoop after their dog
  10. etc
A list of MPSJ bylaws can be found on MPSJ's website.

The amount of enforcement officers in comparison to a population of nearly 1mil is certainly not good.

As a comparison, we have about 1/5 of Singapore's population. We also have about 1/3 of their land size. They have about 35,000 strong police force. We don't even come close to 1/5 of that, when combining our Police force in MPSJ areas + MPSJ enforcement.


In reply to the residents,

1. I'm all for increasing enforcement - traffic, gambling, littering, dirty restaurants, etc. I've been very consistent on this in council meetings whenever enforcement is discussed

2. This increase can be done either by
a) increasing our staff
b) outsourcing

3. Increasing govt staff is not easy. We need approval from state govt and JPA. While most of us (me included) always feel that enforcement staff will automatically earn their keep by the amount of summons they issue, this is not really the case. Most summons go unpaid, as people don't fear it. MPSJ is dragging people to court, but as you can imagine, there's only a limited amount of people that we can prosecute per month, and somehow, despite doing this, it has not struck fear.

4. Since implementing the yellow tag for parking offences in Taipan, the payment rate for summons has gone up - 64% the last i heard. This is positive in helping the case of increasing enforcement.

5. As for outsourcing enforcement, a council meeting has recently directed the legal dept to study and present a paper on this matter by February.

6. Why can't we just go ahead? Well, because we are not sure what legal implications there might be, and instead of rushing into things, which may land us in court, cost us lots of legal fees and embarrassment, and may nullify all those summons issued. So, please give it some time.

7. Not all councillors are for increasing enforcement. In fact some are against it. Some prefer "education" (please lah, i think everyone knows they are committing wrong, and are just not afraid of getting caught). Others fear political backlash from strict enforcement.

So, this is not an easy battle. I am however determined to see it through.

Youths pick up good habit in neighbourhood clean-up

70kids spending a morning for the benefit of USJ3&4 residents...
http://streets.nst.com.my/Friday/Stories/20091217235652/Article

A view from one of the participants
http://meiwern-94-lol.blogspot.com/2009/12/thursday-17th-december-2009.html

SUBANG JAYA: In just three hours, about 50 bags of rubbish were collected by 70 teenagers and young adults in a walkabout around USJ 3 and USJ 4 neighbourhoods yesterday morning.

Aged between 13 and 22, the group is part of the Full Gospel Assembly (FGA) Holiday Conference which carries out community-based activities during the month-long school holidays.

Oblivious of the scorching sun, they were focused on cleaning up the neighbourhoods.

Arriving at 8.30am in two buses in Jalan USJ 3/3, the group was divided into respective zones and team members were handed task sheets after a briefing by Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh and Subang Jaya municipal councillor for USJ 2 to USJ 15, Rajiv Rishyakaran.

Wearing gloves and armed with scrapers and garbage bags, they tore down illegal posters and Ah Long stickers; and kept their eyes peeled for rubbish littering the roadside.

The group also identified 115 faulty street lamps for Tenaga Nasional Bhd and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council.

One of the participants was 15-year-old Samuel Saw, a student of SMK USJ Seafield.

Saw said his participation was his way of giving back to society and making a change.

Another participant was Jemimah Ravindran, 16, who came from Bangsar.

The SMK Bukit Bandaraya student described the gotong-royong as a good start for her to also do something for her neighbourhood in Bangsar Baru.

"After today, I am inspired to try and organise a similar activity with my schoolmates so that we can do something in our own neighbourhood."

Yeoh said FGA had partnered with her office to organise week-long community activities for the group.

"A programme like this is good for them as it helps them to know what is happening in their community. They also get to learn the functions of the local authorities."

Today, the group will embark on a tree-planting project in Jalan USJ 2/2L from 8.30am onwards.

Fwd: what has USJ 11/2 become? a dumping ground for rubbish

Its a shame that in this rather educated neighborhood of USJ, there are still resident who resort to this... If you have any information of the culprits, MPSJ would be happy to take action. Else, to clean up, a simple complaint to MPSJ will get a response..




On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 10:24 AM, wrote:

I am a resident of USJ11 for the past 10 years... I came across this dump site at USJ11/2 (infront of Nurul Izzah Tadika)....

It's right next to a main road and all passer-by can see this rubbish strewn all over...

What has become of USJ 11?

Just to share this with you.

Tq.





DAPSY Selangor Christmas Networking Dinner

DAPSY Selangor is organising a networking dinner to celebrate the Christmas season in 2009 as part of our efforts to engage the youth and be seen with the people, as well as attract the interest of the younger generation who at large still tend to shun politicians.

The details of the event are as follows:
Venue: Restaurant Chef & Brew @ Plaza Damansara, Medan Setia 2, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 19 December 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 7.00pm onwards till late.
Dress code: Smart casual
Menu: Ala carte
Cuisine: Western, Fusion, Chinese, limited Japanese dishes
Price: RM35/++ per person (approximation for 3 course meal, excluding drinks)
Reservation : 40 pax maximum

The restaurant is chosen because of its cosy ambience and ample parking space. It is located near Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s former residence.

The map to the place can be located at the following link: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3.149600,101.653000&z=16&om=1


Driving directions to Chef & Brew:

If driving from PJ Hilton area:

1.Head northeast toward Persiaran Barat21 m
2.Turn left at Persiaran Barat0.9 km
3.Turn left to merge onto Jalan Timur0.4 km
4.Turn right at Exit Jalan Timur14 m
5.Take the ramp onto Lebuhraya Persekutuan1.5 km
6.Take the ramp onto Lebuhraya Sprint1.9 km
7.Slight left to stay on Lebuhraya Sprint3.2 km
8.Take the exit toward Persiaran Bukit Kiara0.2 km
9.Turn right at Persiaran Bukit Kiara0.8 km
10.Continue onto Jalan Setia Murni0.4 km
11.Turn right toward Jalan Medan Setia 117 m
12.Turn right at Jalan Medan Setia 10.1 km
13.Continue onto Jalan Medan Setia 2
Destination will be on the left79 m



The guests of honour are:
1. YB Jenice Lee
2. YB Anthony Loke

The theme for the evening: Spirit of Giving (Giving your lives for a better Malaysia)

Agenda:
7.00 pm - Arrival of Guests (Registration)
7.30 pm - Dinner
8.30 pm - Getting to know each other
9.00 pm - Welcome speech by YB Jenice Lee
9.10 pm - Dialogue with your elected reps
10.00 pm - Closing Speech by YB Anthony Loke
10.30 pm - Good Night and Merry Christmas!


It's open to all professionals especially to the younger generation below the age of 40.

Please inform Ashvin at 019-316 7027 of your attendance and the number of guests attending via sms or email radiantash@yahoo.com by 17 Dec 2009 (deadline).

We have reserved seats for only 40 persons (First come, first served basis). We will officially come up with a full list of names confirmed attending.
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