by Ahmad A. Hamid
Imagine this scenario: You love your residential area where you’ve been staying for years and the only sore point is that it’s “flooded” with old and abandoned vehicles that can no longer be brought back to life.
These discarded “scrap metal beauties” not only mar the scenery but also pose a danger to residents. It’s not unusual to see similar eyesores around Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere in our country.
Empty spaces in residential areas have become convenient dumping grounds for people who don’t care two hoots about the consideration of others. Disposing of their end-of-life vehicles this way seems to be the easiest route.
These discards actually pose a big danger to people when the cars deteriorate, especially when their metal parts become rusty along with sharp broken glass and shards sticking out here and there. These safety hazards also become sanctuaries for dangerous wildlife like poisonous snakes.
They may be like stranded artificial reefs on the ocean floor. But unlike artificial reefs in the ocean, which bring benefits like increasing the fish population and boosting the incomes of fishermen, these defective structures on land are another kettle of fish. Besides snakes, they also become breeding grounds for hazardous insects like mosquitoes, scorpions, and centipedes!
Recently, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, estimates that there are 1,634 abandoned vehicles across 64 low-cost flats in Kuala Lumpur. They can only be disposed of by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) after obtaining approval from the authorities, such as the police. So far, 447 vehicles have been identified for immediate disposal. This is perhaps why these wrecked metal “beauties” are still on “display.”
Police approval is necessary to ensure that these vehicles are genuinely “clean” and not used for criminal activities before being deliberately abandoned as a tactic to dispose of evidence.
This is where something is not right: who should report to the police then? The residents? Their residents’ association? The officers working in local government authorities?
I’m told that even Putrajaya (our pristine and not so new) federal administrative capital, is also facing the same problem!
So, we know that there are eyesores. The decision to act has to start somewhere. It’s not something where we should pass the buck like “there’s always someone else to do the job.”
Local government authorities like Dewan Bandaraya Kota KInabalu, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) or DBKL (which incidentally now has a new lady mayor who once managed George Town in Penang) should act accordingly and work with the police to dispose of the abandoned vehicles.
Disposing of them brings multi-fold benefits: the environment is less polluted, the safety hazards are removed, and the residents have more space to park. All contributing towards the well-being of the residents.
So, what are we waiting for?