Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) has nearly half a million ringgit worth of public liability insurance claims under process.
To speed up matters, Shah Alam mayor Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohd Yatim (pic) said the city council, through its Services Management Department, would hold monthly meetings with relevant agencies to review and update the status of the claims.
There are RM491,494.18 in outstanding claims over the years until June, he disclosed.
“Only RM18,163.20 worth of claims have been successfully processed between January and June this year,” he said.
“There are various reasons for the delays. Some cases are still in court, while out-of-court claims are handled by the insurance company.
“Settlements can only proceed after the court’s decision or insurance company’s investigation is completed,” he said at the city council’s full board meeting.
Mohd Fauzi said some claims were not MBSA’s responsibility.
“Many claims involve property damage, especially to vehicles, due to fallen trees and broken branches.
“However, there are cases where the trees were not planted by the city council or were outside our jurisdiction,” he said, adding that these had caused additional delays and contributed to the outstanding amount.
On a separate matter, Mohd Fauzi said MBSA was working to improve the speed in handling public complaints.
According to MBSA data, he said there was a 7.7% increase in complaints from January to June this year compared to the same period last year.
To address this, the city council is considering categorising complaints based on urgency to prioritise those needing immediate attention.
“We received 19,673 complaints from January to June, an increase of 1,411 cases from last year.
“Safety-related complaints, such as potholes, need urgent attention,” said Mohd Fauzi.
He said the current system handling complaints on a first-come-first-served basis would need to be improved because urgent matters, even if it came later, should be handled first.
He noted that although MBSA’s Road Gang Unit addressed potholes within 24 hours, they would sometimes get late notifications that would delay the repair works.
“If a pothole is too large for a quick fix, we cordon off the area to ensure safety until repairs are completed.
“Complaints such as faded signage and poorly-lit bus stops can wait,” he added.
