Council: Guardhouses can stay

28/01/2008 New Straits Times By Jennifer Gomez

A signboard near a guardhouse in USJ 16, Subang Jaya, gives a false impression by carrying emblems of the police and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council. —NST picture by Azahan Rosli

PETALING JAYA: The Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) will not prohibit guardhouses and gantry barriers in non-gated residential areas -- at least for the moment.

President Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan said the council had delayed acting against residents' associations that had erected such barriers in their neighbourhoods.

"We have adopted a wait-and-see attitude for the simple reason that these structures have been erected for security reasons.

"Our stand has been that as long as there are no complaints from the public about these structures, we will compromise and not take action unless we are compelled to.

"But we will not hesitate to take action if the structures obstruct traffic or if they are dangerously located."

Adnan was commenting on the order by Penang Island Municipal Council to the Residents' Association of Jesselton last Tuesday to remove barrier gates and guardhouses in the exclusive area of Jesselton Heights.

Guardhouses and gantry barriers are common in housing areas in cities, especially in upper-end neighbourhoods.

Residents' associations also pool money to hire guards to patrol their neighbourhoods.

Adnan said that save for a few incidents in USJ where the council had ordered some of the barrier gates to be removed following complaints from the public, it had not come down hard on others.

He added that it was, however, not right for guards at these guardhouses to ask for identity cards and deprive entry to outsiders who declined to provide details.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan had stated that structures which obstructed public roads should be removed.

Interestingly, some of the signboards at these "check points" in USJ have the police and the council's logos on them.