State polls: Lembah Jaya residents want better municipal services

LEMBAH Jaya is regarded as the old part of Ampang, on the east side, consisting mostly of residential Malay settlements surrounded by the Ampang Forest Reserve.

While the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat is rapidly developing and has middle-to-high income households, Lembah Jaya still retains its village charm.

Both areas straddle Selangor and Kuala Lumpur boundaries and are also enclosed by the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve.

Lembah Jaya, which consists of residential, industrial and commercial zones, has 18 voting districts and 65,650 registered voters, 65% of whom are Malay.

Mageswari of Kampung Indah, in Lembah Jaya Selatan, wants MPAJ to fix streetlights and collect rubbish regularly.

The population is relatively young, with a majority aged between 30 and 39, followed by the 21 to 29 age cohort.

Within this constituency are small villages such as Kampung Ampang Campuran, Kampung Lembah Jaya Utara, Kampung Lembah Jaya Selatan, Kampung Datuk Mufti, Kampung Ampang Indah Permai and Kampung Bukit Sungai Putih.

Widow S. Mageswari, 61, has lived in Kampung Indah, Lembah Jaya Selatan, for more than 50 years.

She said the community got along well with mutual respect for each other.

“All we want are basic infrastructure like the streetlights to work properly,” said Mageswari.

“We have lodged reports with Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) but nothing has been done.

“TNB (Tenaga Nasional Bhd) came to check and said the streetlights were not under its purview.

Altimet wants to help low-income constituents who are dealing with higher cost of living.

“What we also need are for food prices to come down, and rubbish to be collected regularly,” she added.

Norhafiza Mohd Nasir, 40, who runs a snacks stall in Taman Tasik Tambahan, said, “There isn’t much to complain about, other than drain maintenance.”

Lembah Jaya will see a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.

Rapper and entrepreneur Syed Ahmad Ahmad Syed Abdul Rahman Alhadad, better known as Altimet, will battle PAS candidate Sharifah Haslizah Syed Ariffin, who is Ampang PAS information chief and a former MPAJ councillor.

StarMetro caught up with Altimet after his gathering with constituents at the Kampung Sri Taman Baru village community hall last Saturday.

Sharifah Haslizah says snatch theft and drug abuse are core issues she wants to tackle.

“We know the low-income group is hurting and tightening their purse strings even more.

“They need help, so we will look into what we can do,” he said.

Sharifah Haslizah, better known as “Cikgu Sharifah”, wants to use the assemblyman’s allocation to enhance safety in Lembah Jaya.

“I want to address the issues of snatch thefts and drug abuse.

“We want to make Lembah Jaya a prosperous place.

“If we can address these problems, then the allocation can be channelled for other things, but we need community,” she said.