KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Motorists frequenting several upper middle income suburbs in the city will know in “two to three days" if a review of new rates will be in their favour.
City Hall will announce the outcome of the review after it is presented to the Cabinet today.
The new parking rates in areas neighbouring the Central Business District (CBD) will be announced after a decision by the Cabinet, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said.
The review will only affect Bangsar, Sri Hartamas and Kepong where parking rates were raised to RM2 for the first hour, and RM3 for the second hour with a two-hour limit imposed.
The rates, which came into force on July 18, drew criticism from motorists and residents alike.
On July 20, City Hall scrapped the new rates in Taman Tun Dr Ismail where it had also been imposed.
“We will announce the decision within two to three days, so please wait,” Tengku Adnan told reporters when met at the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Aidilfitri Open House.
“However, the new parking rates and two-hour time limit imposed in the CBD will remain.”
The new rates and time limit were meant to deter motorists from hogging parking space in the CBD and to encourage the use of public transportation.
Confusion arose when the system was also imposed in the upper middle income suburbs surrounding the city centre.
“After taking into consideration views of parties concerned, City Hall decided to drop the new rates at TTDI as it is a residential township,” Mayor Datuk Seri Mhd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying.
On July 21, Tengku Adnan explained the mix-up arose because of a change in the city structure plan which listed the areas, including Bangsar and Sri Hartamas as being part of the CBD.
“In the previous city structure plan, these areas were defined as CBD areas ... that was our mistake and we needed to rectify it,” he said.
“We will listen to the people and make changes because, to my understanding, the areas are not within the CBD.”
Earlier, Tengku Adnan, his deputy Datuk Loga Bala Mohan and senior City Hall officials hosted some 5,000 guests and visitors at the open house at Dataran DBKL in Jalan Raja Laut.
The event, the seventh organised by the Federal Territories Ministry and City Hall, saw crowds gathering as early as 10am.
Visitors were served a variety of food which included roast lamb, laksa, briyani, beef rendang, satay and Musang King durian, courtesy of the ministry and several firms as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. Kenny Rogers Roasters and Starbucks coffee also took part in the fiesta,
The gathering was entertained with performances by singer-cum-actress Farahdhiya Mohd Amin. Loga Bala also sang several Hari Raya songs.
In his speech, Tengku Adnan said the event was a part of the ministry’s and City Hall’s outreach programmes.
“The idea of this open house is to strengthen relations between government bodies and the public. I hope this event will be able to establish the spirit of unity among KLites,” he said.
For Spanish nationals Almudena Otero and Ignacio Lobez, their first visit to the city was made more memorable by being able to take part in the festivities.
“We were visiting Dataran Merdeka and out of curiousity we followed those heading to the venue. We really enjoyed the food, especially the rendang and roast lamb, and the colourful dances.”
Also present were FT Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Adnan Md Ikshan, FT Foundation executive director Datuk Seri Syed Ali Syed Abbas Al-Habshee, former FT minister Tan Sri Zulhasnan Rafique and Muslim Consumers’ Association of Malaysia president Datuk Nadzim Johan.
