JOHOR BARU: Pet poop that is not picked up, parking that “encroached” into another house compound, and pungent odour from cooking have become the source of many tiffs among neighbours here.
Retiree Wong Fook Heng, 65, said he once got into an argument with a neighbour because of parking issues.
“When I came out of my house, I found a note on my windshield that said ‘do not park so close to my house’.
“I decided to bring the note to my neighbour and asked him what he meant by that.
“He told me that it was his son who wrote it.
“I was unhappy because his son had always parked close to my house yet I never complained to him and that one time when I did it, he left me a note.
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“My neighbour got angry at this. We had a shouting match before my daughter came out of the house to stop the argument,” the Tebrau resident said.
Wong said he did not lodge a complaint as the neighbour moved away a few months later.
As for housewife S. Vimala from Skudai, she said she was afraid of voicing out about her neighbour’s pet for fear of offending him.
“My neighbour likes to release his pet dog along our street.
“Without a leash, the animal would roam freely and it would relieve itself freely too.
“Its poop and urine have caused the cars parked outside to smell but I dare not tell off the neighbour as I do not want to get into a fight,” said Vimala, 50.
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Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu) president Mohd Fahmi Salam said that out of the 1,976 complaints the council received from January until October, 566 were related to neighbours’ actions.
“Most of the complaints were regarding cleanliness and parking issues, including old and heavy vehicles.
“A fair amount of complaints were from people who were unhappy that their neighbours do not clean up after their cats or dogs relieve themselves,” he told The Star.
MPKu also received complaints of smoke and smell permeating homes due to someone else’s cooking.
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According to the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB), parking issues were the source of many people’s ire.
This is mostly about neighbours’ cars that “encroached” into their “territory”.
There are various platforms to lodge a public complaint; online via the Public Complaints Management System (Sispaa) at pcb.spab.gov.my or the Respons Rakyat mobile app.
Other ways are by calling the Malaysia Government Call Centre at 03-8000 8000 or the Johor Public Complaints Bureau office at 07-223 0900 or 07-224 4467.
