TAMAN United in Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur, is choked with derelict cars eating up much-needed parking space.
Rusting vehicles, some stripped to bare shells and others filled with rubbish, occupy bays meant for residents and visitors to businesses.
Its main road − Jalan Sepadu − resembles an open-air scrapyard, leaving residents fuming.
Despite repeated complaints over the past two years, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has yet to resolve the issue, residents say.
“DBKL’s Seputeh branch is just five minutes away, yet these abandoned cars have been sitting here for two years,” said a food stall owner who only wanted to be identified as Hassan.
“We have complained so many times. Sometimes we even point it out to DBKL officers who come here to eat.
“We showed them a car completely stripped and full of rubbish, but after two years, it is still sitting there.”
Car workshop operator Low Shieh Inn, who moved to the area six months ago, heard that some of the cars had been there for decades.
“Because of the growing number of abandoned cars, many filled with rubbish, people tend to dump more rubbish at the site.
“The whole area looks like a dumpsite,” said Low.
Seputeh Residents Represen-tative Council (MPP) Zone 6 chairman Alvin T. Ariaratnam said the derelict vehicles were taking up valuable parking space.
“It is unfair that motorists struggle to find parking while these junk cars sit here for years.
“Vehicle owners also need to be responsible. If your car is no longer in use, don’t just dump it by the roadside and hope someone else will clear it.”
Alvin said the issue showed a need for both responsible ownership and quicker enforcement by DBKL.
A StarMetro visit found several abandoned cars occupying bays and even blocking a fire hydrant.
Piles of rubbish and stagnant water add to health and safety concerns.
When contacted, an officer from DBKL’s Seputeh branch said a team would be sent to the ground to investigate.
On Sept 29, StarMetro reported that DBKL was considering partnering with licensed scrap metal dealers to address the capital’s growing number of abandoned vehicles.
The move aims to ease the burden on its overflowing depots and free up parking bays.
DBKL’s three depots in Taman Connaught, Salak Selatan and the newly built Pantai Sentral are already full, with cars stacked on top of one another.
Despite spending millions annually to tow derelict vehicles, City Hall recoups only about RM300,000 a year through auctions, while the legal process to scrap a car can take six months or more.
