Parking woes for residents
08/01/2008 The Star

RESIDENTS of Seri Taman Tanjung’s low medium-cost (LMC) apartments in Penang claim they are being forced to park at non-gazetted areas after being barred from using the underground car park by the housing developer.

They also claimed they were not allowed to use the available parking lots unless they buy or rent the spaces.

Seri Taman Tanjung’s resident association chairman Michael Kung Chee Beng said the developer did not allow them to park for free or allocate parking facilities for their visitors.

“Most of us are low wage earners and can’t afford to pay for the parking lots that the developer had sold for between RM13,000 and RM15,000 each,” he said.

Seeking a solution: Kung (second left) and other residents complaining to Dr Teng (second right) and Chia (right) about their parking problems.

Kung said the 16-storey apartment block, which comprised 73 three-bedroom and 155 two-bedroom units, had 159 parking lots, 78 of which were located in the basement.

“We’re not asking the developer to give a parking lot for each unit but we hope to be allowed to use some of the empty lots to solve our parking woes,” he said during a dialogue session with Bukit Bendera MP Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye and Pulau Tikus assemblyman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan on Friday.

Kung also said the residents had not received their strata titles despite settling their fees in April last year.

Dr Teng, who is also the state Local government, Traffic Management, Information and Community Rela-tions Committee chairman, said the parking issue had escalated into a major problem for LMC apartment dwellers.

“We assumed LMC owners need motorcycle parking lots when in fact more are owning cars with their improved living standards,” he said.

He said he would look into the residents’ parking woes and discuss with the developer ways to resolve them.

Ivory Property Management Ser-vices Sdn Bhd assistant property manager Beh Kok Soon, when contacted, said the residents were not interested when the company made an offer to rent out the parking lots at RM80 each per month.

On the strata titles, he said a technical hitch had led to the delay of the titles’ issuance.