Rajiv for Malaysia

http://streets.nst.com.my/Current_News/Streets/Wednesday/Stories/20100127002133/Article/index_html

SELCAT has started its public hearing again. Watch the live streaming here. This is a continuation on the use of state allocation by state assemblymen.

Dear residents of USJ,

This is to inform you and to invite you to assist in the Gotong Royong Perdana Masyarakat MPSJ. All areas under MPSJ have been invited to "turun padang" to participate in this Gotong Royong Perdana Masyarakat.

For JKP Zon 3 (USJ2-15) the following are the activities:

1. USJ2 - Meet at Balai Masyarakat USJ2/4S (near the Masjid), 7:45am
Activities: Clean-up activities and removing illegal banners/advertismen ts
Contact Person: Christie 012-3932771, Effendy: 012-2136659

2. USJ3/1 - Meet at Padang USJ3/1, 8am
Activities: Clean-up activities and removing illegal banners/advertismen ts
Contact Person: Andy: 019-3337088

3. USJ3/4 - Meet at Padang USJ3/4P, 8am
Activities: Clean-up activities and removing illegal banners/advertismen ts
Contact Person: Yeo 012-3896296

4. USJ6 - Meet at Basketball Court USJ6/2B, 8am
Activities: Anti-dengue campaign
Contact Person: Juan: 016-2163836

5. USJ13- Meet at RT Pondok, Padang USJ13/1, 8am
Activities: Clean-up activities and removing illegal banners/advertismen ts
Contact Person: John 012-6279517

Do bring along your garden tools and cleaning tools (cangkul, parang, spades, etc) if you can.

Thank you for your kind attention and look forward to seeing you this Sunday.


Turn up for gotong-royong, residents told


Turn up for gotong-royong, residents told


RESIDENTS in areas under the jurisdiction of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) have been urged to take part in the massive gotong-royong on Sunday.

The event is being organised to engage the community to maintain the cleanliness and beauty of the environment.

It also aims to lower the number of dengue cases in the municipality.

All 24 residents committees in Subang Jaya, Kinrara, Seri Serdang and Seri Kembangan will be clearing the rubbish, removing illegal banners, planting trees and conducting a 10-minute dengue check on compounds.

MPSJ president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan is encouraging every one, including government agencies, the private sector, developers, NGOs, religious organisations and educational institutions, to take part in the gotong-royong.

Meanwhile, the council will be having a ping-pong competition on Jan 30 and 31 at the MPSJ Indoor Stadium in Serdang Jaya and Kompleks 3K in Serdang Raya.

It is open to all Malaysians aged 18 and above.

There are six categories, namely Men’s Single Open, Women’s Singles Open, Men’s Double Open, Women’s Doubles Open, Men’s Singles Below 18 and Women’s Singles Below 18.

The participation fee is RM10 for each category. Forms can be obtained at the two venues, as well as the Puchong Indah Multipurpose Hall and MPSJ headquarters in USJ 5.

The closing date for registation is Jan 28. For details, call 03-8026 4355, 012-924 5235 or 017-333 2302.

Just found out that the enforcement of no smoking in public areas can only be enforced by the District Health Office. Local councils have no authority in this area...

Wonder how many enforcement officers each district health office has... 1? 2?

To book, please email/sms:
Rajiv - rajiv@dapsj.com, 012-3111585
Watie - wati.mpsj@gmail.com - 016-2213381

Today afternoon, we (MPSJ) had a meeting with the police at the Selangor IPK (Ibu Pejabat Kontijen - Selangor Police HQ) regarding MPSJ's desire and consideration to set up an auxiliary police unit.

Auxiliary police would have nearly all the powers of a police officer, but is subjected to the area/jurisdiction of operation.

Our objectives for an auxiliary police is simple:
1. Create safer neighbourhoods. To be able to do patrolling to complement the existing police force. We know the great shortage faced by Subang Jaya Police stations. This would help increase the felt presence of the police, and be a deterrent to crime.
2. To provide/arm our enforcement with more bite when conducting their duties. I.e. in raiding a gambling den, we have limited powers to sieze, and to issue summons. Whereas police can arrest the culprits involved, cut the electricity supply to the place, etc. Now we depend on joint operations with the police, but seeing how they also lack manpower, this isn't the most productive way forward.
3. Provide greater security to MPSJ's assets/premise (but this isn't a major consideration).

However, what is dissapointing, its seems that
1. We will not get auxiliary police authority outside of MPSJ's assets. So, we may be granted, if we choose to apply, but our officers are restricted to working within MPSJ's compound, i.e. MPSJ's HQ in USJ5, sports complex, court in SS15, etc. This defeats the who intention of setting up in the first place, which is to provide for safer neighbourhoods.
2. The application will take years. The fastest is apparently about 1 year, and some 3 years, he even quoted one that took 6 years to get approved. This just doesn't make sense, when private bodies, at their own cost, want to help the police, the police gives them a run-around.

However, we do note the exception to the general rule for auxilary police, which is Genting group and Sunway. We are also not sure whether to proceed with this just yet. MBPJ's application has been pending for 1 year now. Even if we do, it'll be a long long journey, and that also, we do not know if they would grant MPSJ the 3rd exception after Genting and Sunway, to provide for security for the people and neighbourhoods.

Why does any local council charge for parking?
1. Source of revenue to council
2. To manage the limited quantity of parking bays in a particular area

I can't speak with great certainty of the the history of parking charges in Malaysia, but I believe the initial reason is #1 - to raise income for the government. Which is not such a bad thing if the government spends the money productively.

However, coming forward to the present day in 2010 in MPSJ, I would say the motive is somewhat mixed, but leaning towards #2. Due to historical reasons, parking at any commercial area is charged 50sen/hour, be it a single row of shops in a housing area or a commercial district such as Taipan or Bandar Puteri Puchong.

I personally feel there's not much point charging parking in those 1 row shophouses in housing area, where there isn't much competition for parking space (SS18 opposite the police station comes to mind or SS17 near Al-Rajhi). Enforcement is also difficult to do productively.

However, for the business districts, the motive of charging for parking and/or creating parking rules must be and is to manage the limited amounts of parking bays in the area.

The target occupancy rate in these areas should be around 85% to 90%. With this level of occupancy, when people come to the area, it is always possible to find parking, maybe not right infront of the shop they are visiting.

If the parking occupancy is 100%, as is in SS15, then its a hassle for those who need to run errands there. This also will effect the businesses in the area, especially those who rely on walk in customers such as restaurants, etc.

A lot of blame is to be given to the previous administration for poor planning, but today we need to move forward to resolve the parking woes, both for the businesses and also the people who visit the areas concern.

So, how do we bring down the current parking occupancy rate from around 120% -150% today to a comfortable level of 85-90%?

Strategy #1: We implement time limits.
This is what we have done in Taipan, with 1 hour limits. The time 1 hour can be adjusted upwards or downwards to achieve the target occupancy ratio.

Strategy #2: Pricing
By using variable pricing, i.e. in the hotspots RM2/hour, further away 50sen/hour, and further still free parking, that can be a way to manage the demand for parking. That way, those who want to save $$$ need to park further away, and those who want the convenience should pay for it. This would be good to try in areas where only a certain portion of the business district is a hotspot.

Other methods is also to implement time limits/variable fees on certain parking bays only, not a blanket coverage of the whole area. However, with this then lies the problem of making things complicated for the people. A balance must be found.

Under the MPSJ Undang-undang kecil bangunan seragam 1984, one can apply
permit for the followings :-

(a) khemah perkahwinan (RM10.00/day); (b) upacara rasmi RM10.00/day); (c)
upacara kematian RM10/day); (d) kehmah untuk tujuan keagamaan RM20/day)
for a maximum of three (3) days and (e) meletakkan bahan-bahan binaan
atas jalan (RM18@1 sq.meter/month).

All functions and activities must end by 12 midnight and there should not
be any disturbance, traffic obstruction, nuisance, bau-bauan, kekotoran
dan menggangu ketenteraman penduduk setempat. Permit holer has to ensure
that the premises must be clean and clear of any rubbishs after the
function.

Seek further enquiry from One-Stop Center, MPSJ.

The full payment and printed receipt is the proof of approval for the
permit by MPSJ.

* Thanks Dr Loi, for the info

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.

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.

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.