Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh urged the Selangor state government and the Home Ministry to jointly discuss the policies of gated and guarded schemes and standardise the guidelines as soon as possible.
She said there has been little clarification on the matters so far, much to the frustration of residents.
“If we follow the Parliamentary Act, only police are allowed to block roads. However in some areas, the residents even have the support letter from the police (to do so).
“So are those considered legal or illegal?”
She said the guidelines issued by the Selangor housing and property board are confusing.
“It says in order to start a security scheme, one must have 85 percent consent from the residents. Does it mean 85 percent consent from one street or one area? Do shophouses count?
“Besides, it says the boom gate can only come down from 12-6am and no drums are permitted. This is tough for an area that has too many exits. The residents can’t be hiring so many guards if they have 20 exits in an area,” she said.
She stressed the time has come for a review on the matter.
“I have repeatedly called for a discussion in the state assembly and I think both the state government and federal government should make the effort to study the matter together.
“The residents don’t want on one hand the Home Ministry is granting licenses for new security guards, on the other hand MPSJ is tearing down (security structures).”
MPSJ last week identified 99 illegal security schemes in the municipality. In Subang Jaya alone, the neighbourhoods of USJ 3, 4, 5, 11, SS12, 18 and 19 and PJS7 and 9 have already been equipped with anti-criminal facilities.
However, opinions on the scheme are vastly divided among residents.The recent meeting among USJ 2 residents showed some 437 people vetoed a proposed scheme.
Hannah said the anti-security scheme residents should also suggest ways to keep their community safe.
“If you don’t want the scheme, will you join the neighbourhood patrolling team or police volunteer patrolling units (VPU) ?”
“Of course you can say you are a taxpayer and the police should perform. But the shortage of manpower among policeman would not be solved overnight, which means the current situation will continue.”
Councillors not complaint centres
Meanwhile Hannah reiterated her stand for local council elections.
“I congratulate the new batch of councillors, but I also really look forward to local council elections.
“If insufficient funds is (the state government’s) reason to defer the implementation, we could go for council president elections.”
Selangor has 12 council presidents, many whom have been holding the post since BN times.
“Councillors are not complaint centres. If the local council and contractors are doing their jobs well, councillors should only be busy with (policymaking).”
CJMY
Jimmy Tan
