The rise of illegal parking attendants

I’M appalled by the lack of enforcement against illegal “parking attendants” around the city.

They used to come in the “Mat Pet” variety that asked you for loose change in exchange for the nice parking spot they had “reserved” for you (Mat Pet is a term for druggies widely used before, perhaps not now).

With KL rapidly modernising, parking spots have become highly priced commodities and these parking schemes have evolved into organised “crime”.

They claim public streets in KL, particularly in high-density, heavy traffic areas and charge innocent visitors an exorbitant fee for parking.

In particular, visitors to Levain bakery in Jalan Delima may be familiar with the “parking men” who charge RM5 for parking anywhere along the stretch of the public road and in the vicinity.

As visitors are aware of this, there is absolutely no avoiding parking on the streets as parking within the area of the bakery is limited.

I was one such unfortunate visitor on Sunday when a man approached me for “five ringgit lah!” after I spotted a parking bay a few metres from Levain.

I did not give in easily and argued for a few minutes with the man, rationalising that it was a public street paid by taxpayers.

The man’s only retort was that I could jolly well get parking or park it with the Levain jockey if I didn’t pay him.

I should have walked off and paid zilch! Instead, I stayed and calmly tried to challenge him.

I finally paid RM5, only because I was afraid they would deface my car or take note of my licence plate.

It wasn’t my only bad experience with “parking attendants” and I’m certain I’m not the only one to have gone through the nuisance.

The same happened near Bukit Bendera, Penang, where visitors are “extorted” RM5 to park near the houses.

I am against these illegal parking attendants for two reasons.

One, these illegal parking attendants are abusing public amenities for their own benefit by sheer exploitation and outright bullying.

Two, where is the local authority, police, Government? Local authorities (DBKL) should take heed of our complaints and do something. This has to change.

IMAN

Kuala Lumpur