“DATUK Ruslin, do you want to wait until our houses collapse before you are willing to do something?” 

This was the question posed to Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Ruslin Hassan by V. Shanta Pillai.  

City Hall receives hundreds of complaints every day, ranging from cleanliness issues to transportation woes, through e-mail, telephone calls, service counters and the City Hall's e-complaint portal.  

A file picture of the DBKL complaints bureau.

However, residents are not satisfied with City Hall’s indifference to the complaints. 

“We can write a million letters to them and nothing will be done,” said Shanta, who lodged her first complaint in 2004 and has yet to see any action taken.  

Shanta is one of the residents of Taman Kobena whose plight was highlighted in the media when their houses started falling apart in 2003.  

A construction project right behind their houses using drop hammer piling had caused the damage.  

When Shanta first wrote to City Hall, it took two months for the authority to reply and another few months before residents were called to a meeting with Director-General Salleh Yusup.  

“The director-general had asked the developer to compensate us for the damage,” explained Shanta. 

However, the developer brushed aside City Hall’s order and refused to reimburse residents.  

City Hall took no further action until May 2006, when Ruslin finally contacted Shanta and asked her to give City Hall a month to solve the problem.  

“It is already the end of July and nothing has been done,” said Shanta, adding that some officers had the audacity to say the case file had been misplaced.  

Shanta and 17 other families are now living in fear as their houses could collapse anytime.  

“That is what City Hall is good at. They evade phone calls and pass the buck when they receive a complaint. What is the use of the complaints counters?” asked Priscillia Silva.  

Silva has submitted many complaints on various development issues in the Damansara Heights area where she resides. 

The most frustrating case was when her neighbour built a tall retaining wall next to her house.  

“I submitted my complaint to seek clarification from City Hall about their approval and I was referred from one department to another,” said Silva. 

According to Silva, the officers at each department would push the blame to another department or to an officer no longer with City Hall. 

Another complainant, Amir Rizal Suhaimi decided to use the e-complaint portal on City Hall’s website to voice his dissatisfaction.  

The e-complaint portal was set up to allow city folks to lodge their complaints online, making it faster and more convenient.  

The portal also allows residents to make suggestions, and ask questions about City Hall’s services. However, Amir Rizal found the portal not as useful and helpful as it was made to sound.  

Tired of the stinking stench of the small market in Taman Segar, Amir Rizal decided to lodge a complaint online.  

“I constantly have to do deliveries to a client in that area and it really disgusts me to see the blocked drain near the market,” he said. 

The portal claims that all complaints lodged would be sent to the respective departments who will then take action on the issue. General complaints will usually take up to 5 working days. 

“I submitted the complaint about a week ago and when I tried to retrieve it today (July 20), I keep getting error messages saying that my username does not exist,” said Amir.  

“It is just like going to City Hall and have them tell me my file has gone missing,” Amir joked.  

“When a person comes in to lodge a complaint at the counters, they are given a number according to the departments in question.  

“They will then proceed to the counters where their complaints will be recorded,” explained a City Hall spokesperson.  

“Complainants will be given a pink slip which states their report number and case as well as a phone number to call after a duration specified by the complaint counters.  

“The duration depends on the seriousness of the complaint,” added the spokesperson. 

According to the spokesperson, the report would then be passed on to the department in question and the respective officers would examine the case and take appropriate action.  

Each department allocates different durations of time to react to a report. It usually ranges from one to two weeks.  

“For example, damages to drains and minor land slides will take about a week while slight damages to roads will take about 2 days,” he explained.