Residents in this condominium in Seri Kembangan (background) have complained of noise pollution from workshops nearby.
THE constant loud clanging, grinding and hammering from nearby workshops have been driving residents of a condominium in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, up the wall for five years.
Resident Brian Yong, 36, a clinical researcher, said the noise affected him as he works from home four days a week.
“One site used to have fire drills. Real smoke and fire were used to train their workers to put out the fires and the thick smoke permeated into our condo.
“The drills have stopped but once in while, we can still hear firecrackers,” he said.
At the moment, there is a lorry repair workshop operating just one street across from the block where Yong’s unit is located.
“The workshop is right under my balcony. They used to do repairs at night, sometimes until past midnight,” he added.
IT executive Derek Lee, 39, who has also lived there for the past five years, said despite several complaints to the local authorities, the situation had seen little improvement.
His first complaint to Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) was made in 2021 through its Public Complaint Management System (Sispaa). Subsequently, four more complaints were made from 2022 to 2023.
“Things would be quiet for one week but the noise would resume from 8am to midnight. Even if we close our balcony doors, the noise can still be heard,” he said.
Yong and Lee reside in blocks A and B, both facing the industrial area. They said there was no quiet even on weekends and public holidays.
Lorry repair workshop owners Chong Jian Fei, 44, and his wife Ng Lai Yung, 43, said they had changed their business hours to stop at 7pm following residents’ complaints.
Chong and Ng said they had followed MPKj’s instructions to prepare a noise monitoring report to gauge the sound levels at their workshop. In addition, they were also served with a notice and subsequently, a fine.
Yong said the noise levels from the workshop had reduced considerably over the past week from May 30 to June 6.
“The noise now can only be heard periodically. There have been days where there is no noise at all. I hope this situation can be maintained,” he said.
Lee hopes the industrial site operators will take the initiative to build sound-proofing or instal noise-reducing equipment.
Residents also wondered why their residential high-rise development was approved in an industrial area.
“We hope the residents’ complaints will compel the proprietors to revise their business hours to not extend to weekends and public holidays,” said Lee.
MPKj Licensing and Hawkers Department director Mohammad Izuddin Ramli said MPKj would monitor the noise situation in the area.
“We will study the problem and come up with solutions to reduce the noise pollution,” he said.
