Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillor Farhan Shah Ridzuan says councillors’ allocations should reflect responsibility in their zones.
Farhan oversees Zone 24, which has over 45,000 residents and comprises PJS 5, 6, 8 and 10 and part of PJS7 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
In the context of city administration, fairness should take into account actual workload so that each zone received appropriate attention, he said at MBPJ’s full board meeting last month.
Farhan said some zones had as few as 9,000 residents, yet were provided with the same resources as other zones.
He said that he faced challenges serving a zone with a very high population density, encompassing a mix of terrace houses, low-cost flats as well as commercial and industrial sectors over a wide geographical area.
“One of the challenges is the high number of complaints due to population density.
“Councillors also face difficulties engaging with residents, especially in high-density areas.
“There is a need for more manpower to attend to residents’ needs on the ground, especially for urgent matters, continuous monitoring and follow-up of issues.
“We also face challenges in allocating resources fairly based on land use,” Farhan highlighted.
“Some zones consist mainly of terrace houses, while others have high-density flats.”
He said his zone included 13 blocks of flats in Kampung Lindungan and eight blocks of Desa Mentari Apartment.
“This makes my zone, Zone 24, one of the most challenging to administer in terms of population size and workload,” he said.
Farhan urged MBPJ to review zoning based on types of residential areas, taking into consideration the number of people’s housing programmes (PPR) units, low-cost flats and complaint hotspots.
He also highlighted the importance of the Urban Renewal Act (URA) Bill, which he said was particularly relevant for residents in his zone.
“The importance of the URA has become increasingly clear following the recent storm in Kampung Lindungan, PJS 6.
“The storm caused roof damage at several apartment blocks, forcing residents to be relocated to a temporary evacuation centre (PPS) for several days.
“This incident highlights that many older residential areas – including PPR and low-cost flats – are in fragile condition and no longer resilient against extreme weather events.
“More worryingly, many PPRs face significant maintenance- funding constraints.
“Major damage such as roofing, wiring and structural issues require urgent repairs, but accumulated maintenance funds are often insufficient,” he said.
At the same meeting, Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Zahri Samingon responded by saying that Farhan’s request was valid.
However, he noted that zones with fewer residents but wider geographical coverage came with their own set of challenges, such as road and drainage issues.
“Road and drainage problems are costly for the city council too.
“Nevertheless, I will review his request,” said the mayor.
