Is MPSJ ready for city status?

Taman Subang Ria park in Subang Jaya lacks maintenance. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star

I AM a resident of Subang Jaya and have been living here since 1980.

This has been home for almost 40 years and am happy to be part of this township because I have seen it grow and it is a nice place to live in, with most of the amenities that we require.

In fact, I have even worked in Subang Jaya. So, it is a very self-contained and convenient township.

However, there are certain issues that have not been addressed and are posing a problem.

The sustainable environmental quality is lacking and this is one of the dimensions required to attain city status.

As I read the article in StarMetro about Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) attaining city status, I looked carefully at the criteria and I thought that the criteria of sustainable environmental quality was lacking.

To us residents, this is extremely important because it impacts our daily lives.

I am speaking of basic cleanliness, which I think should be a very important criterion for growth.

Lack of cleanliness leads to health issues.

Dengue is on the rise and rats thrive in dirty surroundings.

The business districts of SS15 near the wet market and SS14 near the mini markets are not maintained. The drains are often clogged and there is rubbish on the streets.

I have complained about the drains in SS14 several times to the authorities. Action would be taken but it would soon go back to square one. There is no follow-up and

the mini markets and restaurants are probably responsible for the dirty drains.

Enforcement should be stricter and more frequent. Also, cleaning needs to be done regularly.

I do not think the drains are cleaned regularly enough because there have been times when the drains are clogged and there is a stench.

Even the gutters on the overhead bridge connecting SS14 to SS15 have litter in them. And, somehow, the drain holes are too elevated, so rainwater is not channelled away effectively. All these can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Another problem is with MPSJ’s landscape work. The parks are not maintained.

The park in our neighbourhood in SS18/5 is neglected. Whenever I complain about it, some workers will come by to cut the grass and sweep the grounds. Many a time, the job is not completed because of rain or insufficient workers and there is no follow-up the next day. It would be left that way until the next cleanup, which could be two months later.

I was told by an MPSJ officer in the complaints department that maintenance of parks was scheduled to be carried out twice a month.

However, that has not been happening for more than a year now.

Workers come once in two months or when someone complains.

Also, after the grass is cut and bagged, the bags are not cleared away. In my opinion, this should be done on the same day because rainwater would otherwise collect in the bags and they become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Case in point — the grass at SS18/5 playground was cut on Dec 3 but the bags full of leaves were left in the playground the entire month waiting to be collected.

Another aspect of sustainable environmental quality is the ratio of development and green lungs that need to be maintained.

Is Subang Jaya in danger of overdevelopment? Recently, we see more and more concrete development and less and less of green lungs. There had been many trees lost to development projects that were never replaced.

In fact, just recently a proposal was announced for a project to build serviced apartments in a section of Taman Subang Ria.

Residents were informed about this project and could object to the development. Many of us residents objected and participated in a discussion with MPSJ. Apparently, the land is privately owned and the developer proposed that they would upkeep and develop the rest of the park while using only a portion of it for the apartments.

We residents have not heard the final decision regarding this development.

Sadly, economic sustainability may overtake sustainable environmental quality, for which protecting the green lungs is crucial to safeguard against climate change.

Also, cleanliness is vital for environmental quality and it is a basic need.

MPSJ needs to relook at the above criterion and work on it.

We residents will certainly be proud if MPSJ attains city status.

But in my opinion, MPSJ is not ready yet and a lot of work needs to be done before then.

I hope that if and when MPSJ gets the city status it deserves, we can all be proud residents of the city!

Kamal Gehi,

SUBANG JAYA