Mayor: 3,441 cars, 602 m-cycles towed in Johor Baru

CLOSE to 10,000 illegally parked motorcycles and cars have been towed away during the period from last year up to May this year, says Johor Baru mayor Datuk Mohd Noorazam Osman (pic).

“In the first five months of this year, we towed 602 motorcycles and 3,441 cars for illegal parking,” he told StarMetro, adding that Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) was constantly monitoring the situation.

Mohd Noorazam noted that the illegal parking hotspots in Johor Baru included Jalan Dato Dalam, Jalan Segget, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Jalan Abdullah Ibrahim and Jalan Trus.

“The most common offences were parking outside the designated box, vehicle obstruction, parking on the pedestrian walkways and in back lanes, which obstructs rubbish collection.

“The cost of taking back the towed vehicles depend on the type.

“For a car, it is about RM120 but this does not include the storage charge of RM15.

“Owners will also have to pay RM5 for every additional day their vehicles are in our depots,” he said.

The mayor said MBJB had a total of three depots to store towed vehicles.

One is at Lot 1 Johor Baru Waterfront and the other two are located in Jalan Mutiara Emas in Taman Mount Austin.

“The depots store vehicles that were towed for illegal parking and obstruction, old and abandoned vehicles as well as vehicles seized by enforcement officers.

“There are 3,500 vehicles left abandoned at our three depots,” said Mohd Noorazam.

He said owners had up to three months to claim their cars or motorcycles before MBJB proceeded with the disposal procedure.

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He urged motorists to refrain from parking illegally, which posed an accident risk and obstructed traffic, especially emergency services.

“We advise the public to park at designated bays around town.

“We have developed the MBJB Spot Version 2 app to make it easy for motorists to pay for parking.

“We are also providing free shuttle buses around the town area,” he highlighted.

Motorists using the app can pay for their parking on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and check for parking summonses too.

The shuttle service provided by MBJB plies the route to Larkin Sentral, Johor Baru Sentral, Jalan Dato Onn (in front of MBJB old office) and Jalan Wong Ah Fook.