Positive response at briefing

Writer: Gan Pei Ling
http://www.selangortimes.com/index.php?section=news&permalink=Positive%20response%20at%20briefing

PETALING JAYA: Homeowners unsure of how to extend their 99-year leases were delighted to be able to renew titles during a briefing and registration exercise on Tuesday.

Lee, 60, told Selangor Times she came from Perak to renew the lease for her mother’s house in Section 1, Petaling Jaya.

“The lease is expiring in 12 years’ time, of course I must take advantage of this good opportunity to renew it,” the homemaker said.

Azizah Rashid, 52, complimented the authorities for organising the public briefing at the Arena Sports Complex as the new Petaling District Office in Shah Alam U5 is out of the way.

“This is much more convenient for us,” said the home- maker, who owns a house in Section 3, Petaling Jaya with her husband.

She found out about the registration exercise via a flyer distributed in her housing area as this Private Residential Ownership Scheme initiated by Selangor was not widely reported in the mainstream press. Under the scheme, property owners can opt to pay RM1,000 instead of the full premium to extend their leasehold titles, and are only required to pay the remaining premium when they sell or transfer their properties.

This is to encourage private residential owners to keep their properties.

Alternatively, owners can choose to pay the full premium within six months of their application approval and receive a 30% discount.

Petaling chief assistant district officer Yahaya Hassan said property owners can find out whether their applications are approved after a month.

“After we receive their applications, the Department of Land Evaluation will determine the premium based on the land’s market price,” said Yahaya.

He added that a similar registration exercise had been conducted last week on Sept 21 and 22 at the same venue, which attracted a few hundred people to inquire about the scheme, and 80 applications for lease extension.

The public briefing-cum-registration exercises were organised by the Petaling District Office and the offices of Bukit Gasing assembly person Edward Lee and Taman Medan assembly person Hanizah Talha.

Hanizah said they plan to organise it again next month on a weekend for the public’s convenience.

Market road to be upgraded

Tan Karr Wei
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?sec=central&file=/2011/9/17/central/9484908

THE road where the open air wet market in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, is operating on will be upgraded to a concrete one.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) engineering department director Cheremi Tarman said Jalan 17/27, which is a tarred road, was not conducive for a wet market because water from the stalls caused the surface to break easily, creating potholes.

“The council will turn the road into a concrete one at a cost of RM170,000,” said Cheremi, who visited the site recently with Petaling Jaya Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian and Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee to discuss the upgrading work with traders.

The traders have agreed to allow work to start on Sept 19 and they would move their stalls temporarily to the open car park in two phases.

Bad drainage: The road is riddled with potholes and the water is not flowing into the drains.

Fifty-seven traders will move the car park under the first phase and the remaining 66 will move in later when work starts on the second stage.

Section 17 Hawkers Association chairman Lim Keh Seng said the upgrade was timely because the road condition was getting from bad to worse and the drainage system was bad.

Committee member Tan Yew Leong said water from the meat and fish stalls would create pools on the roads.

“Some of the marketgoers have even slipped on the road,” said Tan.

The upgrading work was expected to be completed in three months but Hee urged the council to get the job done earlier to minimise the disruption to the business.

Lee said after the road was upgraded, it was the traders’ responsibility to maintain the cleanliness of the area.

He said there was a proposal to build a waste disposal and recycling centre at the carpark but the project was still pending approval.

Traders were also concerned if they would be charged for operating at the carpark because it was privately-owned.

Cheremi said they had obtained a verbal approval from the landowners and would request for a formal one.

He added that the engineering department would also look into installing proper lighting in the area, which was also used by a night market.