Cars parked at the roadside, making it difficult and unsafe for the residents of Kim Teng Park in Johor Baru. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
RESIDENTS of Kim Teng Park in Johor Baru are upset about indiscriminately parked cars in their neighbourhood.
They say cars are being left for days, making it difficult for businesses there because customers cannot find parking.
Retiree R. Brehma, 65, said some of the cars had been left in parking spots for more than a month.
“It is very difficult to get parking when we want to visit the shops near our houses.
“There are also cars parked at the roadside near our houses, making it difficult and unsafe for us to drive around our own residential area.
“I hope that the authorities will do something about this as it is very unfair to us,” said Brehma, who has been living in Kim Teng Park for over 40 years.
Retiree Liew Guan Pheng, 71, echoed her comments, saying that the problem had been getting worse since the reopening of borders in early April.
“This has been a problem even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The situation, however, improved during the past two years when the border was closed.
“Now that the border has reopened, the situation has worsened as a majority of those leaving their cars here are Malaysians working in Singapore,” he said, urging the authorities to act.
Restaurant owner R. Balasubramanian, 52, said the situation had affected his business.
“We were badly affected over the past two years because of the pandemic and this is the time for us to make up for those losses.
“However, we are still losing customers because of these irresponsible drivers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kim Teng Park Residents Association president Daniel Lokman said it was a 10-minute walk from the residential area to the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) in town.
“This makes Kim Teng Park an ideal place for those working in Singapore to park their cars.
“They leave their cars here and only move them upon returning from the island republic.
“They are taking advantage of the parking spaces here which are not only near the CIQ, but also free of charge,” he said.
Daniel said Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) had in the past monitoried the situation, including towing away cars.
“But there has hardly been any monitoring by MBJB these days,” he said.
When contacted, MBJB Enforcement Department spokesperson said the council would increase monitoring.
“In 2019, we towed 140 cars and in 2020, some 19 cars were towed for violating parking regulations and blocking roads.
“But during the border closure, we did not see such incidents happening.
“We will monitor the situation more now and take appropriate action,” he assured.
