A verbal agreement has been reached on the implementation of the Selangor Intelligent Parking (SIP) deal in Petaling Jaya; however, the details must be clearly spelled out.
The mayor, Datuk Mohamad Zahri Samingon, told StarMetro after a closed-door meeting with representatives of Selmax Sdn Bhd and Petaling Jaya councillors that they had agreed on most of the terms.
“Our main focus is that income must remain the same or increase. Secondly, we are still finalising the percentage of the deal regarding how much profit will come to the council.
“For the council, we want every detail of the agreement to be properly listed. We have to be precise with the details,” he said.
Mohamad Zahri said that while the three other local councils involved — the Subang Jaya City Council, Shah Alam City Council, and Selayang Municipal Council — have accepted the SIP deal, their agreements will only be signed at the end of the year.
“We want everything to be signed before we embark on this. We do not want a situation where something happens before the agreement is signed and the council will have to deal with the matter,” he said.
On Thursday (Sept 25), a former Petaling Jaya councillor backed the city council’s decision to delay signing the Selangor Intelligent Parking (SIP) deal, describing the privatisation of a stable revenue stream as contradictory to good governance principles.
It was reported that lawyer Derek Fernandez, who served on the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) from 2008 to 2023, said that local councils are empowered by law to manage and collect parking fees themselves.
“Parking revenue forms part of the local authority fund under Sections 39 and 40 of the Local Government Act 1976,” said Fernandez.
“The power to collect is given to MBPJ under federal law through the Road Transport Act 1967, not the state,” he added.
The SIP scheme, awarded to Selmax Sdn Bhd, proposes a centralised parking system starting with four local authorities, with revenue split 50% to the company, 40% to the local councils and 10% to Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI).
