Street parking in Brickfields is scarce as people usually park for the whole day that many resort to parking illegally.
RESIDENTS and the business community want Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to implement a two-hour parking limit in Brickfields and Bukit Bintang.
The community is seeking DBKL’s intervention to resolve the long-standing issue as they are fed up with having to constantly look for parking.
They said the bays were hogged for long hours by office workers.
“Devotees at the Buddhist Maha Vihara Temple in Jalan Berhala have to struggle to find parking every day,” said temple secretary Tilak Leslie Jayawardena.
“It does not help when some roads like Jalan Berhala have free parking and people tend to take advantage of that.
Tilak said he hoped that DBKL would implement a two-hour parking limit in crucial areas near places of worship.
“We have been waiting for it (implementation of two-hour-parking) for a while now since people who are working in the offices are occupying the parking bays for many hours, depriving others of parking,” said Tong Soon Mansion resident G.S Maniam.
Maniam: Office workers tend to hog parking bays for hours.
He claimed that people who were working in the offices around the Kuala Lumpur Sentral area were taking up precious parking space in the area.
“They come in the morning and park and only leave after 5pm, and some, even later.
“Street parking bays should not be booked for long hours as it is unfair to residents living here,” he said.
Palm Condo resident S. Jayamalar added that it was impossible to find parking bays nearby her building as all of the lots were taken up by people shopping in Little India, Nu Sentral Shopping Mall and retail areas.
“Due to the high parking charges in the mall and some of the offices here, the public bays are never available,” she said.
Brickfields Rukun Tetangga (KRT) chairman SKK Naidu agreed with residents’ call for a two-hour parking limit to be implemented.
Naidu: People are unable to find bays at DBKL’s parking facility.
“It does not help when DBKL parking facilities like the Tempat Letak Kereta (TLK) in Brickfields are open to season parking users and there is hardly any space for the public,” he said.
Naidu said there should be fewer bays allocated for season parking at public facilities like the TLK as he had received numerous complaints from people who were unable to find parking space there.
Business owners in Jalan Imbi, Bukit Bintang complained that bays were not only being hogged daily but also occupied by abandoned vehicles.
“These cars have expired road tax. Service vehicles and food trucks are also occupying the parking bays for long hours,” said business owner John Sim.
A DBKL officer from the enforcement department’s traffic unit said currently, parking was free in some parts of Kuala Lumpur.
“We are only carrying out enforcement against obstructions and illegal parking,” he said.
The officer added that after the service termination of the previous parking operator Vista Summerose Sdn Bhd in 2018, no new operator has been appointed to manage parking in Kuala Lumpur.
“The parking portfolio is now placed under DBKL’s Finance Department. So far, a few companies have indicated interest on taking up the parking contract, but nothing has been made official yet,” the officer added.
In 2016, DBKL had planned to impose a two-hour parking limit in the central business district to reduce traffic congestion.
Then Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the rate would be set at RM2 for the first hour and RM3 for the second hour.
Once time was up, the vehicles exceeding the parking limit would be clamped and towed.
The plan, however, was never implemented.
