Shop lots in place of parking lots

Tables and chairs of a restaurant occupy the motorcycle parking lots of the Sri Aman flats.

PETALING JAYA: Residents of Sri Aman low cost flats between Paramount Garden and SS1 are dismayed that their motorcycle parking lots have been turned into a business area.

A restaurant, a sundry shop and several other shoplots now stand on the grounds of their covered parking lot under their flats.

This has led to the residents having to park their motorcycles further from their homes, and resulting in many bikes being stolen.

The residents are upset with developer of the flats for turning their covered parking spaces into shop lots.


"Many of the motorcycles have also been vandalised," said one resident.

He claimed that the developer, Sri Aman Development, had gone against their Sale and Purchase agreement.

Resident Ruslan Basri, 48, said under the Sale and Purchase agreement, the developer could build only a maximum six shop lots, but now there are 13 shop lots.

"They have no right to turn our parking lot into shop lots. They have broken the regulation by allowing more than six shop lots in one premise," he said.

Ruslan pointed out that according to MBPJ guidelines for every 40 units, there should be one shop lot.

"There are 340 units here, so there should be nine shop lots and not 13," he said.

"We want our parking lot back. We feel that the developer has taken advantage of us," he said.

However, the residents were told by the developer that the shop lots were built with approval from the Petaling Jaya City Council.

Ruslan said the developer should have discussed the project with the residents first.

Kampung Tunku state assemblyman Lau Weng San said that the developer had no right to build shop lots unless the residents asked for it.

"What the developer did was not right," said Lau who promised to bring the matter up to MBPJ.

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament, Tony Pua said that the developer acted without any regards for the residents.

"I just hope that in future the selection of developers is done in a proper manner. We don't want a few black sheep to tarnish the image of developers," he said.