DBKL: Eligibility for reserved parking bays to be reexamined

KUALA LUMPUR (March 20): A revamp of the criteria for eligibility to reserve council parking bays in the city will be undertaken by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

The Star reports that previously, there were 40,000 council parking bays, of which 3,000 were reserved. DBKL instructed parking manager Vista Summerose Sdn Bhd to suspend renewal and new applications for rented parking bays late 2018, resulting in over 2,000 parking bays being released back to the public.

DBKL Economic, Planning and Development Department director Azmi Abdul Hamid was quoted as saying that many requests had been received from those who lost their reserved parking bays.

“We are in the midst of collecting data on what type of businesses should have the right to reserve parking bays.

“We have requests from clinics to park vehicles for emergency cases, government agencies to park official vehicles, fast food outlets for their despatch riders’ motorbikes and hotels for their patrons’ vehicles.

“Currently, we see a trend of parking bays reserved by business owners for themselves, when it is supposed to be for the convenience of patrons and customers visiting their establishments.

“For example, we allow clinics to reserve parking bays for the convenience of patients or an ambulance, but most of them are being used by the doctors.

“Reserved parking bays are between 7.30am and 6pm, but the collapsible pole remains erect even after the permitted hours, resulting in the space being underutilised.

“Council parking bays are meant for the public, so it is wrong to make them into private parking spaces although they are paying rent. We do not want such a practice to continue.

“However, there could be exceptions if the business owner is disabled,” he said.

The daily reports that Vista Summerose senior manager Nik Mohd Haikal Nik Haidi said they were merely following instructions.

“We don’t decide on the reserved parking bay policy matters, except those already stipulated in the agreement.

“As the rental period expires, our staff have been removing the collapsible poles, covering the holes and repainting the parking boxes back to yellow.

“The rental period varies between three, six and 12 months. So, DBKL has to decide fast before all the terms expire.

“The monthly rental is RM400 per lot for the central business district, and between RM200 and RM240 for places outside the city centre,” he said.

The previous policy allowed for a maximum 20% of parking bays to be reserved, with priority for purposes of loading, accessibility, health and security.

“These businesses were approved and given a licence to operate at the location.

“The nature of their business requires the reserved bays to be allocated to them to carry out their business properly, ” he was quoted as saying.

“The reserved hours are from 7.30am to 6pm, but DBKL should consider certain businesses that need to extend beyond the permissible hours.

“There is the issue of the public parking their vehicles overnight, blocking those who have paid, and those who do not put the pole down after the permissible hours.

“The challenge is to design a harmonious coexistence between them and other users,” he said.