Simple Road Safety Measures is All We are Asking for

By Stephen Ng

These days, Local Councillors and Selangor State Assembly persons including State Excos do not respond to complaints.

I am not surprised that Selangor may fall in the next general election, if Barisan Nasional puts together a team who can do a better job than the existing people helming various positions. However, I would be the last person to hope such fate for Selangor, especially when the BN Component parties themselves have not gone through internal reforms.

This is my observation: There is such a vast difference in the present batch of Pakatan politicians compared to the first batch of councillors that I had dealt with. I used to cheer when Pakatan appointed its first batch of councillors - people like Chan Chee Kong and Lee Khai Loon, as they were so much more hardworking than former BN Councillors.

Chee Kong and Yee Ling rushed to the site despite of the heavy downpour to look at a sinkhole. That was back in 2008/9. As time passes, when complacency creeps in with one batch after another of the local councillors, this is where things go bad.

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On 26 July 2017, a resident living in Bandar Utama BU6/6 wrote a letter to the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council President, Azizi Mohd Zain.

It was bad enough that Azizi never bothered to respond or at least, I am not aware of any response from MBPJ.

She highlighted the need for traffic safety measurements at Lebuh Bandar Utama next to SJKC Puay Chai 2. In early part of the year, the school's PIBG had also written to MBPJ.

Its councillor Tang Fuie Koh was informed of the need. There were only promises that work would begin soon, but nothing happened. This was the reason why the BU6 resident followed up with her letter.

I have also personally whatsapp to MBPJ mayor, Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain about this issue.

More than a year has passed and there is still no news from both MBPJ and the new councillor, Danny Chan Pak Keung.

The matter was raised with Bandar Utama State Assemblyman, Jamaliah Jamaluddin in August 2018. It is now October 2018, yet nothing has been done. My enquiries sent to both Danny Chan and Jamaliah's whatsapp went unanswered. There is no update as to what would be done to solve the safety issues.

I have given four points to MBPJ last year:

(a) Speed breaker to slow down the traffic. This is a school zone and there is not even a signboard asking motorists to slow down as they approach the school.

(b) Pedestrian crossing for children who need to cross the road. I have seen a secondary school kid trying to cross this road on a busy afternoon traffic.

(c) A traffic light to control the flow of traffic. Accidents have happened here before as cars trying to exit Jalan BU3/1 are hit by on-coming vehicles speeding on Lebuh Bandar Utama.

(d) Besides the traffic management, I have also suggested to replace the monsoon drain with concretized drain to create more space for parking. Because there is a mosque nearby, on Friday afternoons, it is madness here, with cars parked on the road leaving behind only one lane for the traffic flow. The Muslim prayer hours happen at the same time when parents' cars are parked here to pick up their kids.



Instead, I hear from my sources that MBPJ is planning to build an overhead bridge across the road.

I wish to remind the councillor and the state assemblyman that a similar overhead bridge is built at Yuk Chai, but I still still a lot of parents and their kids walking across the road.

So, please revert to the simple things in life than to build another white elephant at the expense of assessment rate payers.

This area is under Tony Pua (Member of Parliament), Jamaliah Jamaluddin (State Assemblyman) and Danny Chan Pak Keung (MBPJ Councillor).

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