Democratic Action Party
Socialist Youth (DAPSY)
Sibu Region
Date: 6th April 2010
Datuk Tiong Thai King
The Chairman
Sibu Municipal Council
Wisma Sanyang,
Sibu, Sarawak
Dear Datuk Tiong,
RE: REQUEST TO WAIVE THE PENALTY of OCCUPYING PARKING SPACES in LI HUA JAYA COMMERCIAL CENTRE
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DAPSY Sibu request your kind consideration to waive the summons issued by the employees/enforcement officers to those businesses in Li Hua Jaya commercial centre for alleged illegally occupying the parking spaces in front of the shop houses.
We believe that they are actually the innocent victims of the circumstances as stated below:
1. Li Hua Jaya Commercial Centre is facing severe land settlement problems with the road surface being 2-3 feet below the intended level to allow access to the shop houses.
2. Businesses found it hard to operate normally and customers found it much inconvenient to patronize the businesses there.
3. As a result of the circumstances, some businesses have to resort to solve their problems by installing iron frames/bridges in front of their business premises so that their customers can continue to patronize them as well as making the business operations possible. And they did this at their own expenses.
4. We understand that the said Li Hua Jaya commercial area’s projects have yet been handed over to the Sibu Municipal Council and thus the SMC has yet to implement parking coupon system in the said area. Thus the SMC’s action in issuing the summons is questionable and possibly ultra vires.
5. The SMC should have enforced its duty to make sure that the developer of the project re-levels the roads so that the owners’/occupiers’ right are protected.
We urge the Chair of the SMC to remind the employees/enforcement officers to be sensitive to the hardship of the people as well as to be diligent in handling their tasks and the local council top priority is to serve and not to penalize the people.
We are concerned by the report that the SMC is prepared to allocate RM 1.0 million to upgrade the infrastructures at Li Hua Jaya commercial area since the project has yet been officially handed over to the SMC. We are monitoring the said development closely.
Finally, we hope SMC will waive the summons unconditionally and issue a statement to that effect in the press.
Thank you,
Yours faithfully,
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LAW HUI UNG LEE SENG ONG
DAPSY Secretary DAPSY Deputy Youth Chief
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STEPHEN LU CHENG KUOK
DAPSY Youth Chief