BUSINESS owners at Jalan Emas SD5/1B, Bandar Sri Damansara in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, are upset that a fellow businessman has turned a shared back alley into a private scrapyard.
The alley has been filled with heaps of metal and industrial waste that the other shopowners fear could cause a fire.
They also complained of the neighbour illegally barricading both ends of the alley.
Hardware shop owner Seng CC, who has operated there since 1998, said a fire at a nearby shoplot on Jan 21 got them more worried that the blocked alley would trap them in a similar emergency.
“Every day, I worry about a fire.
“This neighbour is arrogant and refuses to remove his items.
“I am tired of lodging reports with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), because he seems untouchable,” said Seng.
She added that what started as a few items years ago had accumulated into massive piles, yet the authorities had shown no interest in enforcing removal.
Another business owner Lai FF was baffled with MBPJ’s lack of enforcement.
“Despite routine licensing inspections three times a year, the city council has failed to clear the obstruction.
“He even has the audacity to lock the back alley.
“Other owners know he has been issued summonses, yet the items remain,” added Lai.
The blockade has forced other merchants to load and unload their supplies at the main road, disrupting traffic flow, while also preventing council workers from cleaning the back drains.
Community activist Yee Poh Ping described the situation as a shameful failure of enforcement to allow one individual to inconvenience and endanger an entire row of shops.
“It is unfair that everyone suffers because of one culprit. MBPJ has turned a blind eye,” he said.
Yee plans to submit a formal appeal to Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Zahri Samingon to immediately dismantle the illegal gates and remove the waste before tragedy struck.
