A resident, Ganu, pointing to his neighbour’s house which was abandoned.
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PETALING JAYA: They are an embarrassment to the Petaling Jaya City Council; a sad sign that many parts of the city are in a mess.
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| A mountain of bottles near an abandoned factory in PJ. |
PJ may evoke images of a well-run township but nothing is further from the truth.
In Section 13 near a former factory, thousands of empty bottles stand there for months while nothing is done by the authorities to clear the place while residents nearby live in fear of Aedes mosquitoes.
Disused tyres and rusty machines lie alongside the bottles as dogs rummage through them.
A resident, passing by the area, said the council should take action to clear the area of the bottles immediately before they become a health hazard.
In Section 8, houses abandoned for more than 10 years stand in pools of water, hideouts for Aedes mosquitoes and snakes.
Mannar Mannanm who lives in Jalan 8/4A, said a monitor lizard once visited his house after crossing from an abandoned house nearby.
"I had to call the Fire Brigade department to remove the monitor lizard. Snakes have also come into my house before," he said.
Mannar claimed that he had lodged several complaints with the PJ council about the overgrown trees and bushes at the abandoned neighbouring house but no action had been taken.
"A neighbour and I spent more than RM500 to clear the abandoned house but we can't afford to do this often. The house is really in bad shape."
Another resident, K. Gunasegaran said he and his family have been living near an abandoned house for more than 10 years.
Before the house was abandoned by its owner, he heard rumours that the neighbour wanted to rebuild.
"Once a lorry came with materials for rebuilding and left them on the porch. Ten years went by and no one came again.
"Today, we are suffering from mosquito problem. The roof of the house is broken and there is water leaking into the house. Every morning we go on a mosquito spraying spree," he said.
"We just don't understand why the authorities can't take action on abandoned premises when they are clearly jeopardising our safety and health," he said.
A. Thiruvenggadam, a PJ councillor, said he is aware of the Aedes breeding grounds in PJ which have been "ignored" due to legal concerns.
"About 400 houses are abandoned in PJ but the authorities could not clear them as they are privately-owned," he said.
"But something needs to be done soon. I have submitted requests to look into the abandoned property problem but they are pending due to legal issue," he said.
Derek Fernandez, another PJ councillor, said there are several laws under the Local Government Act that allow premises that endanger neighbours to be sealed or cleared.
Derek said if a premises is in an inhabitable condition and is a threat to neighbours, the PJ council has the authority to bring it down.
He said the residents first need to lodge a complaint, and later the council will investigate. If the owner could not be located, advertisements would be placed in newspapers.
When all these measures fail and if the owner of the abandoned house does not pay his assessment fees, the council will seal the house and clear the mess.
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