Residents of Kim Teng Park, one of the oldest housing estates in Johor Baru, want the authorities to take action against those who park haphazardly in the neighbourhood.
Many residents and shop owners say the situation inconveniences to them.
A. SHAHJAHAN, 50, who operates a convenience store at Jalan Storey says motorists occupy all the parking lots as well as un-demarcated parking spaces.
“The motorists are mostly working in Singapore, either at dayshift or nightshift. Some motorists ignore all traffic rules such as parking in front of the fire hydrant and the Tenaga Nasional Bhd station,” he says, adding that traffic police and enforcement officers from the local authority are turning a blind eye to such offences.
P.K. EUGENE, 53, a resident, says some cars are parked at one spot for three or four days.
“These outsiders park at road junctions, road corners, and by the roadside making it inconvenient for residents. Someone should come up with a solution to this problem.
“It’s not that we do not have empathy for people who work in Singapore, but their convenience should not inconvenience others, especially the residents,” Eugene says.
Flower pots, concrete slabs and bricks are seen placed on the road outside some houses to prevent motorists from parking
indiscriminately.
Another resident, ANNE KANG, 52, who has a towing sign outside her house, says some motorists even remove the pots and slabs and defiantly park their vehicles.
“There’s a carpark in front of the Custom and Immigration Quarantine Complex at Sultan Iskandar Building, but people still choose to park in our neighbourhood,” she laments.
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Johor traffic police chief Superintendent Baharudin Mat Taib says police are always working together with the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) to tow away vehicles that violate traffic regulations.
However, he says, the reality was that there were insufficient parking spaces for motorists in areas near the Sultan Iskandar Building (which houses the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex) before heading to Singapore.
“Even the licensed car parks are full. So the motorists have no choice but to park in nearby neighbourhoods and around the city centre.
“Even the MBJB compound for towed cars have run out of space,” he says, adding that they will visit the residential area from time to time.