The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Families live in makeshift tents as MPS declares flats unsafe Posted: 22 Jun 2013 06:40 AM PDT LIFE cannot get any worse for 80 families from the Taman Permata low-cost flats in Dengkil. They have been living in tents put up in the carpark area for over 10 days now, after the Sepang Municipal Council (MPSp) declared the units unsafe for occupation. Some have been housed at a hall nearby. The residents said the units had cracks all over, tiles were coming off and that the ceilings were on the verge of collapsing. The former estate workers and their families were relocated to the low-cost units about 14 years ago when their estates were acquired for the development of Putrajaya. Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram) engineers have been carrying out checks at the site daily since the building was deemed unsafe. "We are living in misery, especially the older folks and children. It has been 11 days now and we still do not know what is going to happen to us. We are suffering from the heat and being bitten by mosquitoes," said K. Mathavi, 65, adding that the situation worsened when it rained. M. Saraswathy, 49, said those affected should be kept informed and told when the problem would be resolved. "Life has been getting worse after we were relocated from the estates. "We have been living in terrible conditions and now even the flats have been found unsafe for occupation," she said, adding that most of their belongings were still in the units. Saraswathy said they went back to the flats every morning and evening to bathe and change. D. Jothy, 57, said there were cracks all over her unit and that the ceiling was on the verge of collapsing. Just like in the other units, she said the flooring in her unit had also cracked, with wall tiles in the kitchen breaking off. Taman Permata Residents Association secretary K. Ramadass said 400 families had moved into the flats from four estates — Prang Besar, Sedgeley, Medengley and Galloway, in 1999. In 2011, Ramadass said former state executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, who visited the flats after the residents had expressed fear over the safety of the building, had pledged to relocate them to a new site. Dr Xavier, he said, had promised that the state would build low-cost terrace houses for the 400 families. "However, we have not heard anything from the state yet,'' he said. |
| MPS wants Batu Caves temple committee to submit building plans Posted: 22 Jun 2013 06:40 AM PDT THE Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) wants to help legalise all the structures in the Batu Caves temple compound and has no plans to demolish any, said its president Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain at the fullboard meeting yesterday. The situation arose after MPS had issued a stop-work order for a cable car project in Batu Caves on June 6. The council had said the structures must be legalised before any new project could be carried out at the premises. Azizi urged the Batu Caves temple committee to submit building plans for all the 20 structures identified by MPS. He said the move was to ensure the safety of visitors to the temple. "MPS has no plans to demolish the temple, we just want to ensure everything is done legally and that safety is not compromised. "I understand that they may not have all the relevant documents as the temple is over 100 years old. However, they must submit building plans for those built within the past 10 years," said Azizi, adding that the state wanted the problem resolved in six months. Aziz said under the council's bylaws, it must ensure all the structures within the temple had the stipulated buffer zones, soil study is conducted for all buildings and mitigation plans are in place for the existing buildings and structures. He said the council has to give attention to the entire legalisation process to ensure the building or structure was safe and could cater to a large crowd, that rockfall barriers were provided as well as verify and validate all the newly-built stalls. "We do not want any mishaps to take place," he said, adding that the temple committee could contact the council for any form of assistance. In response to claims that the temple committee had submitted several building plans, Azizi said some documentation had been submitted but were not complete. "They should engage a professional consultant and prepare building plans for the 20 structures," he said. Earlier, Selangor MIC Youth leader M. Shanker Raj Ayanger handed over a memorandum to Azizi, urging him to lift the stop-work order on the cable car project. |
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