New Plan For Garbage Collection

CLEANLINESS is an issue close to my heart.

Under a pilot project, the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) will be introducing a central garbage disposal system for commercial areas, starting with Jalan Bandar in Pusat Bandar Puchong, Puchong.

Presently, the Alam Flora contractors’ garbage collection scope in commercial areas is done door-to-door every day except Sundays.

Business premises are required to have at least one garbage bin under Bylaw 6, Garbage Collection, Discard and Disposal (MPSJ) 2007 and Bylaw 18, Trade, Business and Industry Licensing Bylaw (MPSJ) 2007.

Business owners will be slapped with a maximum compound of RM1,000 if they fail to comply.

However, the reality is that people who often indiscriminately throw rubbish, claim that the existing garbage bins are insufficientrubbish bins.

This results in a messy situation and makes it more difficult for the Alam Flora workers doing the garbage collection rounds.

Under the project, we have identified several key garbage collection points in Pusat Bandar Puchong where large 1,000-litre bins will be placed.

A total of 12 bins, which can be attached to a compactor lorry, will be placed in Jalan Bandar 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 16.

The traders and shoplot residents will have to dispose of their garbage into these bins on their own as the door-to-door collection will stop and Alam Flora workers will only collect garbage from these 12 bins.

Meanwhile, the MPSJ will not entertain complaints regarding garbage thrown in front of shops or in the backlanes any more.

We started sending notices to the shop owners and traders from April 1 and the ruling will be effective from May 1.

We have also had meetings with the traders and distributed pamphlets to them.

The MPSJ has to spend an additional RM4,000 to rent the 12 bins, plus the RM6,000 per month for the Alam Flora services like sweeping the roads and garbage collection in Pusat Bandar Puchong.

We are starting in Pusat Bandar Puchong because this area has been receiving the most number of complaints.

We will monitor the project for about three months before looking at extending it to other areas.

The traders and public should also play their role by catching errant traders or passers-by who throw rubbish indiscriminately by taking pictures and reporting them to the MPSJ.

To better enforce the ruling, we are considering the idea of sending undercover MPSJ officers to monitor the area.

However, it is also the traders’ and business operators’ responsibility to ensure the cleanliness of their areas, as a clean space is sure to attract more customers and that would be to their benefit.

What is also lacking is the attitude and civic consciousness among the members of society.

Source: The Star

Less Crime In Puchong Jaya

As of April 19, the crime rate in Puchong Jaya has dropped by 8.5%.

Puchong Jaya police station officer-in-charge Chief Inspector Lokman Ahmad said they had solved 183 cases and nabbed 66 criminals this year.

The police station, which covers 24.8km, also recorded a decrease in crime rate by 10.4% last year.

“The highest number of cases involve vehicle and motorcycle theft, most of which happened at shopping malls and flats,” Lokman said.

He revealed the figures at a meeting held at Bandar Kinrara 5 on Sunday.

Special officer to Home Minister Datuk Lau Yeng Peng said the ministry had taken a series of proactive measures to bring down the street crime index and crime index, such as increasing police presence and establishing more Malaysian Police Training Centres (Pulapol).

“Every year, about 5,000 police officers retire while fewer than 6,000 new officers join the police force.

“There is only an increase of 500 to 1,000 police officers each year because of the lack of training centres,” he said.

In Puchong and Seri Serdang, for instance, there are 320 men in blue in four police stations serving half a million people.

“The ideal figure is one policeman for every 250 people, or 500 at the most.

“The situation will soon be improved as more Pulapol centres will be built under the 10th Malaysia Plan,” Lau said.

He added that the public could volunteer through Community Policing and Rakan Cop.

In response to a question on people feeling discouraged to lodge police reports due to unfriendly cops, Lokman said the public could inform him if such incidents happened in his police station.

Source: The Star

Carrefour

Carrefour opening soon... @ Puchong

Ivory Residences @ Bandar Saujana Putra

Bandar Saujana Putra, is strategically located next to the ELITE Highway in the vicinity of USJ-Puchong growth zone and this makes it an ideal place to reside. The integrated, self-contained township covers a total area of 820 acres and offers a variety of properties and public amenities such as police station, mosques, schools, shops and recreational parks. It would provide more than 12,000 units of mixed development within convenient reach of Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya, putrajaya and the KLIA.

This self-integrated township, spanning over projects period of 5-8 years since its first launch in February 2003, LBS has successfully handed over more than 5,000 units of various types of properties.

Accessing to Bandar Saujana Putra has become much convenient since the elevated interchange connecting to Elite Highway (Exit 606) opened to traffic on year 2006. Through Elite Highway which links Kesas, NKVE and LDP, traveling to other town centers become easy and direct. Beside, there is also an alternative road to the township via Taman Mas Sepang, Puchong. Furthermore, the township is also linked up through the South-Klang Valey Expressway (SKVE) which is currently under construction and expected to be completed by this year. Thus it will enhance the accessibility of BSP from Pulau Indah to Putrajaya/KL.

Source: www.lbs.com.my

Gazette Forest Reserve And Settle Court Case

A group called the Signature Campaign Teamwork (SCT) wants legal steps taken to safeguard the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, following the Selangor state government’s promise not to develop the forest reserve.

Selangor Tourism, Consumer and Environment Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong had announced the state government’s decision to abort a proposed cemetery project in the forest reserve at a New Year celebration in Puchong on Jan 9.

“For the issue to be resolved, the state government has to permanently gazette the site as a forest reserve, and get their lawyers to inform the Shah Alam High Court to reach an out of court settlement with regards to the case,” said SCT secretary Ng Chee Kwong.

The SCT had applied for a judicial review on the proposed cemetery project at the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve.

The case is fixed for mention on March 16 at the Shah Alam High Court.

The state government and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) have been named as the respondents.

“Our lawyers told us that their lawyers have to inform the judge that the project has been cancelled and get the court to record the case; otherwise it would be considered as contempt of court,” said Ng.

“The forest reserve also has to be regazetted, because there is a risk that the project will be revived if it is not.

“We want a legal solution to safeguard the forest reserve and residents, as a political announcement does not mean anything.”

Although the SCT had received an invitation to attend the celebration, Ng said they did not send any representatives as they did not know who had sent the invitation and that no definitive solution had been issued.

“We are giving the state government a March 16 deadline to gazette the forest reserve and settle the court case,” he said.

Ng said the SCT was also against the conditional agreement mentioned by the Selangor Mentri Besar that the state government could only regazette the forest reserve when another suitable site for the cemetery was identified.

The SCT comprises representatives from Saujana Puchong, Mutiara Indah, Bandar Bukit Puchong, Gateway Puchong and Lestari Puchong.

According to the SCT members, there are more than 10,000 houses in the five housing areas.

They are against the cemetery project due to its proximity to their homes and to ensure that the forest reserve remains as it is to preserve the environment.

Ng said the proposed cemetery project covers 150 acres but it was initially stated at 55.

The forest reserve originally spanned some 4,270ha but it was degazetted over a variety of land uses over the years.

As of February 2009, 1,217ha had been gazetted by the Selangor government as an education and research forest.

Source: The Star

Romantic Winter

TM UniFi

About three weeks after the launch of UniFi, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) can claim to have 900 customers hooked on the new fast speed broadband offering in four areas in the Klang Valley.

The next areas where UniFi is heading to are Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Damansara, Cheras, Selayang, Puchong, Serdang, Klang, Kepong and Wangsa Maju.

The first four areas to get the first feel of fast speed were Taman Tun Dr Ismail Shah Alam, Subang Jaya and Bangsar. The service will eventually be expanded to include 22 more exchange areas by June, and another 22 by year-end.

By 2011, about 65% of inner Klang Valley will be covered by TM’s HSBB initiative, group CEO Datuk Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa says. This will be increased to 92% by the end of 2011 to include Gombak, Kajang, Bandar Tun Razak and Sungai Besi.

UniFi is offered in three packages comprising triple-play services of high-speed Internet, video (IPTV) and phone, with speeds of 5Mbps, 10Mbps and 20Mbps and it is priced at RM149, RM199 and RM249 respectively per month.

Zamzamzairani says TM’s target is to complete 750,000 premises passed by the end of the year. Premises passed refers to the number of premises connected by UniFi with the option to subscribe to the service if they so desire.

“This means the major part of the Klang Valley will be covered by HSBB by December this year. Outside of the Klang Valley, HSBB deployment will be targeted at Zone 1, which includes the high economic impact areas, industrial parks and free trade zones, he says. UniFi will also be available at Iskandar Malaysia.

He says all other areas not covered by UniFi will be covered in one way or another by other broadband technologies.

Zamzamzairani warns users to expect teething problems in the initial stages as TM is still ramping up its capabilities. Things will smoothen out after that.

TM will not bill subscribers until July. The first 3,000 subscribers within the four exchange areas will be getting free UniFi usage till June. TM is also waiving over RM1,000 worth of installation and equipment fees to install UniFi.

Source: The Star

New Facilities For Puchong Residents Soon

A new sepak takraw court and children’s playground are among the facilities planned by the Residents Committee (JKP) Zone 16, Pusat Bandar Puchong and Bandar Puteri Puchong for this year.

Councillor Tan Jo Hann said the facilities would be built on the field in Jalan Wawasan 2/23, Pusat Bandar Puchong once approval is granted by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ).

“The court, estimated at RM15,000, will benefit the children and youths from the low-cost flats nearby,” he said.

The JKP is also planning to relocate the bus stop in front of Sri Begonia apartments as it obstructs traffic.

“A new structure will be built at the next road,” Tan said.

On the garbage problem in the low-cost flats in Jalan Wawasan 5/3, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Tan said the council had rejected the JKP’s application to replace the broken bins and repair the waste disposal room, but it was applying again.

The council rejected the application on the grounds that the money should come from the apartment’s management instead of the JKP but Tan said the JKP could help the management if it was unable to fork out the funds to solve this unhygienic situation.

He said the JKP was given an allocation of RM100,000 a year and 80% of it was to be spent on infrastructure, 17% on community activities and 3% on administration.

Tan said among the issues or complaints settled by the JKP since August 2008 included potholes (23%), streetlights (13%), pruning of trees (10%) and others.

So far the JKP has installed chain fencing from Jalan Serindit 1- Persiaran Wawasan link road, cleaning up of the lake in Taman Wawasan and installed drain covers near Tesco Puchong,

The other problems that require close monitoring are cracks on houses in Bayu Putri Apartments, Taman Wawasan 1 and 4, garbage collection in the commercial area of Pusat Bandar Puchong and illegal hawkers and restaurants.

JKP vice-chairman Simon Chin said while the JKP tried its best to take care of the area, the residents had to play their part, too.

Source: The Star