DBKL personnel cleaning the ‘Little India Dancers’ sculpture. — Courtesy and filepic
AFTER more than a decade of neglect, the Little India Dancers sculpture in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, became a haunt for vagrants.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has finally taken action to clean up the area after the issue was highlighted by StarMetro.
DBKL Health and Environment Department workers were seen clearing rubbish from the site and giving the statue a thorough scrub.
The clean-up effort, which will continue over the next few days, has inspired businesses there to step in to adopt the sculptures and commit to regular maintenance.
“We will form a team to maintain the sculptures,” said Brickfields Business Community Society vice-president Datuk Alagarsamy Kumar.
“Little India Brickfields is our place. Who else should take responsibility but us?” said the owner of Sri Paandi Restaurant.
Echoing Alargarsamy’s sentiments was Persatuan Prihatin Peniaga Kecil Little India secretary P. Thinakaran.
Alagarsamy says the business community should take responsibility for the landmarks.
“I agree we should do something about maintaining the sculptures.
“We need to get businesses on board to maintain the structures and keep this area clean,” said Thinakaran.
Persatuan Bunga Little India Brickfields president M. Navanithan also agreed to help out with the cleaning efforts, adding that it should be a collective effort.
The clean-up was spurred by StarMetro’s report on Sept 9, “Treasures turned eyesore” about iconic city structures, particularly in Little India, commissioned to enhance the capital city’s aesthetic charm which had fallen into disrepair.
The structures, including the Little India Fountain (also known as the Elephant Fountain), Little India Dancers, Palava-inspired columns and the Torana Gate, were installed in 2010 as part of a RM35mil project to upgrade the area.
These landmarks are now in various states of neglect and some have become vagrants’ hangouts while others have been defaced with stickers and posters.
StarMetro report on Sept 9.
A DBKL spokesperson confirmed the sculptures were being cleaned.
“About 15 personnel from the DBKL Health and Environment Department were involved.
“We urge the public to refrain from littering and damaging the sculptures,” said the spokesperson.
“We need to locate the artists to discuss proper maintenance of the artworks,” the spokesperson added.
