99-year lease cheer

By Lim Chia Ying
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/1/6/central/7740275&sec=central

HOUSE OWNERS occupying land with lease tenure of less than 30 years will see their leasehold increased to 99 years.

Selangor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim announced this at the Petaling Jaya Sustainable Community Award and Commu-nity Leaders Award 2009/2010 ceremony on Tuesday night.

“We will be studying the premiums to be paid in line with the increase in the number of years,” he said in his speech at MBPJ banquet hall in Civic Centre.

He said the government would also be looking into redeveloping Petaling Jaya city.

“We hope the councillors and the Petaling Land Office will brief the people about the programmes to be carried out.

“Also, we want to study the number of schools needed here because one of Petaling Jaya’s strengths is that the community will continue to stay on for a long time; which calls for the need for more facilities like schools, parks and other infrastructure.”

Over the moon: The Bandar Sri Damansara RA committee members and its president Ravindran (third from left) rejoicing after being named the champion in the Petaling Jaya Sustainable Community Award 2009/2010.

He added that the development of Greater Klang Valley would start soon and that parcels of it would involve Petaling Jaya.

Khalid noted that garbage collection and disposal remained an issue given that the population growth in this city was high.

“I will need to go to the ground with mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman to look into ways of resolving this problem. We may have to channel resources from the 2011 budget for a better solution to the garbage issue.

“We will not allow any differences between us at the state level, the Federal Government and government officers to hinder our intention of beautifying and doing more for this city,” he assured.

He said there was a deficit in the estimated MBPJ 2011 budget compared to the 2010 budget when there was a surplus.

“We will need to monitor spending more closely and prudently especially given that Petaling Jaya is one of the highest revenue collectors among all cities in the country.”

Meanwhile, Mohamad Roslan in his speech said the annual award ceremony that was previously known as the PJ Best Neighbour-hood Award had been renamed in line with the 10th anniversary of PJ Local Agenda 21.

After thanking the panel of judges for selecting the award recipients, he said Budget 2011 had been approved with a sum of RM272mil to focus on solid waste collection, upgrading of drainage systems and resurfacing of roads as well as maintenance of infrastructure and greening of the city.

“We need to tackle issues of safety and poverty while increasing the quality of life for the people of Petaling Jaya.”

The awards started with the presentation for the Community Leaders 2009/2010 segment.

The three recipients were Section 3 PJ Rukun Tetangga chairman Shamsuddin Hassan, SS2 Selatan residents association chairman Lim Theng Kau and Damai Senja Petaling Utama RT chairman Sathiveloo Kanniah. They each received prize money of RM500 and trophies.

The PJ Sustainable Community Awards were presented to five incentive recipients and one champion.

The five incentive winners were: Rukun Tetangga Taman Gasing Indah (Safe Neighbour-hood), Damai Senja Petaling Utama Apartments Rukun Tetangga (Administration), Taman Mayang Jaya residents association (Green Neighbourhood), Desa Mentari Block 3 residents association (Social Integration), and Section 21 residents association (Entrepreneurship).

They each received a development grant of RM10,000 and trophies.

The champion of the PJ Sustainable Community Award 2009/2010 went to Bandar Sri Damansara residents association, which received a development grant of RM50,000, certificate and a Champion’s Trophy.

Bandar Sri Damansara RA president Ravindran Raman Kutty said their committee deserved the award for their hard work and efforts.

“I wish to thank our committee and other agencies who were supportive of our efforts.

“We will use the money to develop a basic customer relations management system to manage complaints and feedback received from residents more effectively, so as to facilitate better customer service,” he said.

He added that the RA had always been active in activities such as environmental programmes that encourage residents to do their own green farming, annual get-togethers with the residents, and constant dialogues with the police.

“This year we will continue with the programmes we have been doing but on a greater scale with even more participation from the people,” said Ravindran, adding that there were some 60,000 residents in Bandar Sri Damansara.

A total of 17 Rukun Tetangga / RAs in Petaling Jaya took part in the Sustainable Community Award.