Mamak joints top pick for diarrhoea cases

Malay Mail / SHAHRIM TAMRIN

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 12:34:00

PETALING JAYA: Indian-Muslim restaurants, or Mamak shops, are a common source of food poisoning in Petaling Jaya, according to a survey by Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San and Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research.

The “Petaling Jaya City Council residents attitude and opinion towards food outlets on dining out, restaurant cleanliness and Petaling Jaya City Council performance pool” was conducted from 410 selected respondents aged 18 and above. They were interviewed for three days from June 10 via telephone.

The participants from Bukit Gasing, Bukit Lanjan, Damansara Utama, Kampung Tunku, Kota Damansara Seri Setia and Taman Medan.

“In one of the 30 questions posed to them, 15 per cent claimed they had suffered from food poisoning after dining out at food establishments in PJ for the past one year,” said Merdeka Center research manager Tan Seng Keat.

He said 30 per cent believed it was due to dining out at Mamak restaurants.

“Others recognised that the cause of food poisoning was due to eating at outdoor hawker stalls mostly along the streets and hawker stalls in coffeeshops, which stood at 15 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively,” he said, adding the survey margin of error was more than 4.9 per cent.

The survey was conducted via random stratified sampling method along the lines of electoral constituents, ethnicity, gender and age.

Respondents also cited open air food court and non-air-conditioned restaurants (excluding Mamak restaurants) as "dirty" with feedbacks standing at 34 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively.

Tan said hawker stalls, Mamak restaurants and open air food courts need to improve their level of hygiene.

"Cleanliness is the most important criteria for PJ residents to pick a place to dine at. People are particular about the cleanliness of food outlets, and the council's cleanliness guidelines and laws for food operators are moderate.”

'This is sabotage!'

THE Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) have questioned the authenticity of the survey findings conducted by Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San and Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.

Presma president Noorul Hassan told The Malay Mail he has doubts over the validity of the survey.

“This is sabotage and biased towards Mamak food joints! It’s totally unacceptable and it’s not fair to blame us in a survey which was just based on interviews and distorted facts.”

He said there could be other factors contributing to food poisoning as experienced by many of the respondents.

Claiming the survey was the latest ploy to discredit and damage the reputation of Mamak food operators in Petaling Jaya and nationwide, he said: “I believe it was never substantiated by medical evidence to show the respondents suffered from food poisoning as a result from eating at Mamak restaurants.

“They always get the blame. If it’s true we are unhygienic, I don’t think people will visit Mamak restaurants regularly. The level of cleanliness has improved tremendously and if not, it’s so much better than the other so-called reputable dining places,” he said, adding that 15 per cent with food poisoning out of 410 respondents was not a fair reflection of the whole survey.

‘Three-strikes’ rule

KAMPUNG Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San (pic) said among the objectives of the research were mainly to obtain residents’ feedback on the ‘Three-Strikes’ enforcement rule for food establishments within Petaling Jaya City Council's jurisdiction.

“I was also interested to find out the public's satisfaction with the overall performance of the council regarding cleanliness at food outlets,” said Lau in a Press conference at the DAP headquarters yesterday.

He said the ‘Three-Strikes’ rule has yet to be implemented in Selangor since it was mooted a year ago by the State government.

“The rule stipulates that if a hygiene offence is committed more than three times in a year, the food establishment will have its licence revoked,” he said, adding that 91 per cent of the survey respondents agreed with the rule to be implemented.

He said a third of respondents were concerned that the rule would lead to potential power abuse or corruption by unscrupulous enforcement officers.

“I hope we could look at different perspectives of the survey and also for the Selangor government to have a better understanding on cleanliness at food outlets.”

Walkabout by Lau an eye-opener

GUARDRAILS, bus shelters, streetlights and re-routing of the traffic flow are some of the plans in the pipeline for parts of SS1 in Kampung Tunku Petaling Jaya.

This was decided after Kampung Tunku State assemblyman Lau Weng San went on a recent walkabout around several congested roads in the old neighbourhood.

For the past few years, residents have been complaining of problems that have been affecting them, but nothing has been done.

Lau met residents who briefed him on the frequent accidents at the junctions of Jalan 1/36 and Jalan 1/32 and Jalan 1/36 and Jalan 1/26.

They also expressed concern over the heavy traffic flow on Jalan 1/36 that made it dangerous for pedestrians to cross the road.

"I will propose to Petaling Jaya City Council that guardrails be placed at the junctions to help minimise accidents," Lau said after the walkabout.

He acknowledged that motorists coming from nearby areas like SS5, SS4 and SS3 used Jalan 1/32 and Jalan 1/38 as shortcuts to get to other parts of PJ and the Federal Highway. This made conditions worse at the already congested roads in the neighbourhood.

To alleviate the traffic snarl along Jalan SS1/ 22, Lau proposed that traffic emerging from SS1/26 should be allowed to only turn left on to the main road.

Getting to PJ New Town or Old Town or to the hospitals like University Malaya Medical Centre is also an acute problem for these residents as bus services are sorely lacking. "There has to be an efficient bus service here. I will be contacting RapidKL soon," he said.

Due to the high crime rate in the area, residents are asking for more streetlights, which Lau also promised to look into.

Dialogue to solve Kampung Tunku traffic woes

THE Petaling Jaya City Council will hold a dialogue session with the residents of Kampung Tunku and Taman Aman soon to try and resolve the controversy over the access route to Paramount View condominium and other traffic related issues.

The condominium, located behind Jalan 22/44 in Taman Aman, is 90 per cent ready and would add to the perennial traffic problem in the old neighbourhood, residents say. It is estimated that there would be an additional 1,000 vehicles when the condominium is completed, aggravating traffic in the already congested Kampung Tunku.

MBPJ deputy president Puasa Md Taib said they had discussed the matter of the access route with the developer recently, and their Infrastructure and Traffic, Planning and Engineering departments were studying various possible measures that could be implemented.

“Once that is completed, we will call the residents living in Kampung Tunku for a briefing and they can give their views and concerns about the area. It will be chaired by Kampung Tunku State assemblyman Lau Weng San,” he added.

However, Lau when contacted begged to differ with Puasa. He said the matter regarding Paramount View and the traffic situation affecting other residents should be held separately, as the issues were complex. Lau said there was a meeting last March where residents living close to the condominium together with residents from other stretches were invited to discuss the traffic problem in the neighbourhood.

A resident, who declined to be named, maintained that the meeting Lau was referring to was strictly for those living within a 200m radius of the condominium, which were Jalan 21/27, Jalan SS1/25, Jalan SS1/26 and Jalan 22/44. No others were involved.

“It is good to have the dialogue MBPJ is initiating as this issue has been dragging on for months,” he said.

John Phung, a resident living along Jalan 1/22, said the traffic was extremely heavy in the mornings and evenings.

“We hope to improve the area through this dialogue,” he said.

Malay Mail had reported that Paramount View, a 12-storey condominium with 233 units equipped with a three-storey podium car park, among others, were built right behind a row of double-storey bungalows along Jalan 22/ 44, damaging the houses as a result.

Residents along SS1/25 fear their stretch would be used as exit points for the development and they had objected to it since the affected roads are barely 30 feet wide and would not be able to cope with the extra traffic load.

Use your own road to Paramount View, say Kg Tunku residents

YOU can’t use our roads to get to the new condominium.
That’s the stand of residents living at Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44 in Petaling Jaya, angered by the on-going construction of the Paramount View condominium in the Kg Tunku area, near the Paramount LRT station.

The pro-tem action committee, comprising residents living paround the project, is considering putting up a wall at the “blind ends” of Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44 to prevent the roads from being used as entry points for the condominium, which began construction in 2006.

The planned wall will be 20m long and 1.75m in height, said a resident, who declined to be named.

The main complaint has been that the project’s developer had put up a signboard stating that Jalan SS1/26 would be the entrance, but is not using it.

“As it stands, both Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44 are barely 9m wide. These roads will not be able to handle the extra traffic from this new development,” said another resident.

The residents’ committee claims that under the Petaling Jaya City Council guidelines, the access road should be at least 15m wide.

Apart from the anticipated congestion, residents are also worried about condominium residents parking on the road kerbs — as is usually the case outside many condominiums in PJ.

The Paramount View condominium is slated to have 233 units, and could result in an extra 1,000 people in the neighbourhood with an existing population of over 3,000 residents.

The residents’ committee wants the local council to insist the developer sticks to its original plans.

They suggest the council make Jalan SS1/26 as the main access road, then on to Jalan 21/27.

“It will cost some RM500,000 extra to build a ramp from the condominium to Jalan 21/27. This proposal will only affect the entrance of SS1/26,” said a resident.

Meanwhile, Selangor State executive councillor for Local Government, Study and Research Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, said a review of the project’s plans could be possible.

“I need the complaints from the residents as no one has brought the matter on the condominium to my attention. I will act on it upon receiving the official complaint,” said Liu when contacted yesterday.

Use your own road to Paramount View, say Kg Tunku residents

YOU can’t use our roads to get to the new condominium.
That’s the stand of residents living at Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44 in Petaling Jaya, angered by the on-going construction of the Paramount View condominium in the Kg Tunku area, near the Paramount LRT station.

The pro-tem action committee, comprising residents living paround the project, is considering putting up a wall at the “blind ends” of Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44 to prevent the roads from being used as entry points for the condominium, which began construction in 2006.

The planned wall will be 20m long and 1.75m in height, said a resident, who declined to be named.

The main complaint has been that the project’s developer had put up a signboard stating that Jalan SS1/26 would be the entrance, but is not using it.

“As it stands, both Jalan SS1/25 and Jalan 22/44 are barely 9m wide. These roads will not be able to handle the extra traffic from this new development,” said another resident.

The residents’ committee claims that under the Petaling Jaya City Council guidelines, the access road should be at least 15m wide.

Apart from the anticipated congestion, residents are also worried about condominium residents parking on the road kerbs — as is usually the case outside many condominiums in PJ.

The Paramount View condominium is slated to have 233 units, and could result in an extra 1,000 people in the neighbourhood with an existing population of over 3,000 residents.

The residents’ committee wants the local council to insist the developer sticks to its original plans.

They suggest the council make Jalan SS1/26 as the main access road, then on to Jalan 21/27.

“It will cost some RM500,000 extra to build a ramp from the condominium to Jalan 21/27. This proposal will only affect the entrance of SS1/26,” said a resident.

Meanwhile, Selangor State executive councillor for Local Government, Study and Research Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, said a review of the project’s plans could be possible.

“I need the complaints from the residents as no one has brought the matter on the condominium to my attention. I will act on it upon receiving the official complaint,” said Liu when contacted yesterday.

Highrise havoc in PJ

When a heavy metal pole fell off the highrise construction site of the
Paramount View Condominium project at Lot P.T. 9, Section 22, Petaling Jaya
two days ago and became embedded deep in the middle of a parking area,
residents of Section 22 and Kampung Tunku could only be thankful that no one
was hurt.

The incident was the latest in a series of falling objects from the
construction site and the residents made their concerns heard when they held
a peaceful demonstration outside the project site at 9am yesterday.

"We are not against development, we just want the developers to be
responsible when it comes to their projects," said R. Indran, chairman of
the Kampung Tunku Residents' Association protem committee.

With more than 80 houses damaged by falling objects so far, he said the
picket was meant to be a reminder to the developer, Sri Aman Development Sdn
Bhd, to act responsibly, and also to create awareness among residents on the
seriousness of the problem before it's too late.

"It's scary because there is only a 20m space between the construction site
and the residential area," said Indran.

"The construction cranes can often be seen swinging over the roofs of the
nearest houses while carrying construction material."

Heavy vehicles transporting construction material have also damaged the road
from Jalan SS1/25 to Jalan 22/44, while creating noise and dust pollution,
he alleged.

"Besides that, the width of the open drains from Taman Bahagia has been
reduced to five feet due to blockage from construction waste. Now, the
residential area is prone to floods."

Indran claimed that flooding would affect two TNB sub-stations nearby.

"If water seeps into those sub-stations, I don't dare imagine what the
consequences would be."

The residents' protest also saw the presence of Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony
Pua, Kampung Tunku State assemblyman Lau Weng San and a councillor from
Petaling Jaya City Council, S. Ramakrishnan. Representatives from the
developers were not present.

Ramakrishnan said the local council is keeping a close eye on the situation
and is currently reviewing residents' demands that the developer's vehicles
use Jalan 1/26 instead of Jalan 1/25.

He said the council would be holding a meeting with the developer next week
to tackle the issue.

Malay Mail also contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Department
deputy director-general (operation) Rosli Hussin regarding the matter and he
said its Selangor branch would conduct an investigation on the site soon.