Complex a problem even when vacant

The Star 26/11/2004

WINNIE Plaza has been the subject of residents’ grievances in Taman Sungai Chua, Kajang, since it opened in 2000 and continues to be so even after it closed down three months ago. 

Now, instead of being irked by shoppers who used to park haphazardly on the road, residents are worried that the vacant building is becoming a meeting point for foreign workers who, they say, loiter there.  

The only notice announcing the shopping centre's closure has been torn off, leaving residents clueless about what is going to happen. 

“If only the local authority had taken heed of the residents’ complaints in the first place, this would not have happened!” said auditor N. Sivadas, 50. 

“The mall was built indiscriminately. We did not need it because there are a number of hypermarkets nearby. 

“However, we hope a company can take over the building fast and manage it wisely, so that it will not become another white elephant in the town,” he added. 

K. Balan, 31, said his family felt threatened when foreign workers wandered around the small neighbourhood. 

“We are not prejudiced against them, but some of them disturb the maids and throw objects at our dogs when they bark,” he said. 

A spokesman for the building owner said there were still some matters that needed to be sorted out with the previous anchor tenant.  

She assured residents that the plaza would be rented out again. 

Resident Lai Aching, 67, said another problem was the septic tank built in the centre of the densely populated 31-year-old Taman Sungai Chua.  

The tank is for the low-cost flats nearby. 

“Sewage water is channelled into the drains behind our houses. It is so smelly that it keeps me awake at night. I have been tolerating this for years,” she said, adding that the septic tank had caused the value of surrounding properties to drop. 

“The house next to the septic tank was sold for RM100,000 although it could have easily been worth RM300,000, if not for the poor planning.  

“The buyer, who was carrying out renovations, had eventually abandoned the house,” said Lai. 

The residents also highlighted the flooding that their neighbourhood had experienced for the first time recently. 

They attributed the cause to the new housing project on a small strip of land behind their houses and urged the local authority to look into the matter.