Selective enforcement by DBKL a crying shame
Why summon folk over minor transgressions but allow public spaces to be hijacked by business establishments and reserved as parking or outdoor dining areas?
By CY Ming
Last Monday night, a bicycle messenger got a rude shock when the bicycle he locked to a bus stop rail at Wisma Central in Kuala Lumpur was missing from its spot when he returned to retrieve it.
He was told by a food truck operator in the vicinity that enforcement officers of Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) had carted the bicycle away. Going by the action of the DBKL officers, City Hall is heartless.
How could an expensive bicycle, a Bombtrack Arise costing RM3,000 be carted away like garbage? Even a ramshackle old bicycle should be treated with respect as it holds great sentimental value to the owner.
In this case, the expensive bicycle was locked to a bus stop railing but DBKL enforcement officers took the trouble to cut the lock and cart the bicycle to a storage depot in Taman Miharja, Cheras.
The owner made his way to the storage depot but to his horror found his bicycle in a badly damaged state. How could this be when a bicycle is much lighter than a motorcycle and can be easily lifted by just one man?
Why do these officers treat property belonging to others with scorn but give great respect to used tyres and plastic cones placed on public parking lots, and tables and chairs spread on five-foot ways and sidewalks?
The bicycle messenger invested RM3,000 on a great machine to be part of VeloExpress, a worker-owned bicycle courier company that provides fast and reliable package delivery within the city centre.
The service is professional and pollution-free, and ought to be promoted as it brings soul to the city.
To add insult to injury, the owner was told he would have to wait seven days before the bicycle could be released, provided he paid the RM300 fine. Meanwhile, he is without wheels to resume work.
Although DBKL introduced car-free Sundays in January 2014 in certain parts of the city, it appears that some DBKL enforcement officers do not take this seriously.
The car-free Sundays were to allow cyclists and others using various forms of non-motorised transport to use the city’s streets safely.
Perhaps these officers feel compelled to show on record that they have indeed carried out enforcement. However this does not explain their overzealous actions over minor transgressions while closing one or both eyes to public spaces hijacked by business establishments and reserved as parking or outdoor dining areas.
CY Ming is an FMT reader.
With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram