PETALING JAYA: Abandoned vehicles are being left to rot in many parts of the country, leading to unsightly housing areas, Aedes breeding areas and even haunts for drug addicts,
In Klang, many abandoned vehicles left indiscriminately are affecting the royal town’s image.
Klang Municipal Council (MPK), in an effort to clean up the town, is removing the cars from backlanes, public carparks and vacant lands in housing and industrial areas.
In the past six months, the council’s enforcement team towed 420 vehicles from various parts of Klang.
As a result, the MPK depot in Jalan Tepi Sungai is now overloaded and the council is finding it difficult to accommodate more vehicles.
The Shah Alam City Council recorded 193 abandoned vehicles in 2016 and 208 vehicles in 2017 in its yard while the Sepang Municipal Council had in its yard, 149 vehicles stored in its premises in 2016 and 113 in 2017.
Over at the Subang Jaya Municipal Council, 768 vehicles were recorded at its yard in 2016 and 874 in 2017.
In Penang, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is finding it difficult to get rid of the hundreds of cars that need to be towed away.
Mayor Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif said although the council has received numerous reports on abandoned cars, various procedures need to be taken before the cars could be towed away.
“Before we take enforcement action, we need to check with the Road Transport Department and the police on the car’s status, whether if it was stolen or involved in any crime. We have to track down the owner.
“Only after all that is clear can we remove a car to our storage depots in Tanjong Tokong and Relau, which are both at almost full capacity now,” she said yesterday.
MBPP councillor D.R. Kala said the council has received reports and identified 53 cars abandoned in Bandar Baru Ayer Itam alone.
Some of the cars would be removed by end next month after the council clears existing junk from its storage depots.
“Right now our depots are full, and end of this month we will clear it. We have issued 20 notices to the car owners and will proceed to remove them if the owners fail to respond,” she said, adding the council was giving priority to abandoned cars in the township.
In a random check, reporters and photographers from The Star spotted more than 50 dilapidated cars and motorcycles within just an hour in the Bandar Baru Ayer Itam area.
Many of the vehicles were in deplorable conditions with punctured or missing tyres, shattered windscreens or windows and broken doors. Most of the cars also do not have number plates or road tax discs. Some have road tax discs which expired a few years ago.
Some owners have even put up notices that the junks were for sale. There were even notices of people offering to buy the vehicles.
Joint Residents Associations of Bandar Baru Ayer Itam Ad Hoc group secretary V. Nathan said there was an acute shortage of parking space at the some 20 housing schemes there.
“The issue of abandoned cars and motorcycles in the parking lots has been reported several times by The Star but continues to fall on deaf ears,” he said.
The abandoned vehicles areas are also health hazard as health enforcement officers have found Aedes larvae in pools of water in the vehicles. Some of these vehicles are used as hideouts by drug addicts.
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