Lim: DBKL officers bribed, allow eateries to place tables outside

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has said that some Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement officers might be accepting bribes from eateries, allowing them to place tables and chairs on parking lots and sidewalks.

The Star reports that Lim says some 10 coffee shops had encroached upon parking spaces at the Metro Perdana commercial area of Kepong, Kuala Lumpur.

“After I lodged a complaint with DBKL, their enforcement team did come and removed the chairs and tables, as per their regulations,’’ he was quoted as saying.

“But they were back in action the very next day and the owners managed to get their items back,’’ he said.

A one month grace period is supposed to be enforced, before the seized items can be released to the owners.

“Not everyone is doing this, but no doubt there are some rotten apples (in the DBKL enforcement team),’’ he said.

The daily reports that Lim said: “People are always complaining to me that there are no places to park in the area and the situation is also affecting public safety."

Speaking to the daily, Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said that eateries are allowed to place tables and chairs on sidewalks and the corridors, only in front of restaurants.

“And they have to apply for permission,’’ he clarified.

“This will also depend on the size of the sidewalk and corridor in question but that does not guarantee approval.

“They are not allowed to place the tables and chairs on the roadside and parking lots.

"We have carried out enforcement where parking lots have been hijacked by restaurants and we have confiscated their goods (tables and chairs).

"But they can be very stubborn and they keep coming back,’’ he said.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad, on the matter of eateries placing tables and chairs on parking spaces, said: “We do not encourage it. But it's happening because some of this people have been doing it for years and years and cannot change."

“We will re-look some of the areas where this is happening. Public safety must be the priority here.’’

Khalid was quoted as saying that not all areas are suitable for dining outside.

"In fact areas that are open to main road traffic with no safety features like railings will be reviewed."

National Road Safety Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, in a statement said that authorities should initiate policy to govern the safety of the public at roadside eateries.

“Such tragedies have happened before but were forgotten,” he was quoted by the daily as saying.

“It was reported that the local authority then declared that all food outlets and restaurants, including mamak stalls, would have to stop placing tables and chairs outside their premises," said Lee.

“But due to short memory and poor enforcement, there are still many eateries which place tables and chairs outside their premises.”