Maimunah (in pink) and Senator Isaiah Jacob (on crutches) had inspected an obstructed walkway during a walkabout in Brickfields, highlighting how illegally parked motorcycles and chained furniture block access for pedestrians, especially those with disabilities. — Filepic
IT HAS been a week since Kuala Lumpur welcomed its newest mayor and city folk are still reeling from the abrupt departure of former mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif.
Maimunah’s exit for a senior post at PETRONAS has left communities frustrated.
With many long-awaited issues still undiscussed, they feel the city is back at square one, even as Datuk Fadlun Mak Ujud steps in as Kuala Lumpur’s 16th mayor.
Fadlun officially assumed office on Nov 17.
Naidu says new trading stalls have mushroomed, despite Maimunah’s assurances of a whitelist system.
Brickfields Rukun Tetangga chairman SKK Naidu said months were spent trying to secure a meeting with Maimunah to highlight the area’s long-standing accessibility woes.
“I am more disappointed than shocked,” he said of her sudden transfer.
“When Maimunah finally came to Brickfields, she immediately understood the scale of the problem and instructed her team to form a dedicated task force on accessibility matters.”
Naidu said progress stalled and a meeting with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers was finally convened just three days before her departure on Nov 14.
However, he discovered that most of the officers were new and unfamiliar with the issue.
Meanwhile, repairs carried out along Brickfields’ pedestrian routes continued to fall short of Malaysian Standard 118, which provides guidelines and requirements for accessibility for persons with disabilities in buildings and public spaces, he said.
These issues include uneven surfaces, uncovered openings and even motorcycles encroaching onto pedestrian walkways.
Naidu added that new trading stalls have also mushroomed, despite Maimunah’s earlier assurances of a whitelist system taking effect in June.
Maimunah had in April announced that DBKL was developing a structured whitelist to decide which unlicensed traders could continue operating, stressing that it was not a blanket legalisation.
Approvals would be based on zoning, the type of activity and legal compliance, with unsuitable locations automatically ruled out.
Save Kuala Lumpur Coalition (SKL) chairman Datuk M. Ali shared similar frustrations, saying that several crucial requests made to Maimunah were never fulfilled.
“We asked for the Bangsar masterplan and traffic assessment reports in view of rapid development in the neighbourhood, but these documents were never provided,” he said.
“DBKL has not given updates on the proposed U-turn at Jalan Maarof leading to the elevated highway near Pavilion Damansara Heights, despite repeated follow-ups.”
Ali said he had also urged DBKL to stop the practice of allocating multiple parking bays to commercial properties, noting that some businesses were given up to six bays in an area already facing severe parking shortages.
“Priority should go to public-serving establishments such as clinics, and even then, they should be given only one or two bays,” he said.
While all these issues were never addressed, Ali acknowledged that Maimunah did introduce a two-hour parking zone in the Dataran Maybank area.
“We need more locations with a two-hour zoning system.
“If Petaling Jaya can do it well, why not Kuala Lumpur?” he asked of the system that aims to increase parking turnover by preventing vehicles from occupying parking bays for too long.
PPR Kampung Muhibbah Residents Association chairman Atar Haja said folk there were disappointed about the abrupt mayoral change, especially since he had only recently highlighted multiple problems in the PPR during a town hall session for the Seputeh parliamentary constituency.
“Abandoned vehicles have long clogged up the area, taking up parking spaces, and some of these vehicles being used as makeshift storage units have become a health hazard.
“Residents have raised the problem with three different mayors over the years.
“They kept saying they would handle it, yet no action has been taken over the past four years,” he said.
Atar said Maimunah promised to look into the abandoned vehicles problem during the dialogue in early September, and he expressed frustration at having to start the process all over again with the new mayor.
He added that residents hoped DBKL would at least honour one commitment made during the dialogue, by repainting the high-rise apartments next year.
