THE pinch of rising costs is getting more painful and distressful by the day. The price of goods and services has doubled if not tripled in the last few years. Making matters worse, the recent move by DBKL to increase parking rates has given residents in most parts of KL an additional headache, increasing their suffering and difficulty in coping with the rising cost of living.
It looks like authorities are never interested in taking the man-in-the-street’s perspective when handling problems or implementing policies.
Earlier, talk of increasing rates to solve the unending traffic problems, and city congestion with the aim of encouraging carpooling and taking public transport, seemed to refer to the city centre or central business district (CBD) parking bays. CBD is basically the commercial and business centre of the city. But, lo and behold, increased rates have not only been imposed in the CBD but insidiously moved into all parts of KL outside the city centre.
Residential areas like Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara, Bangsar, Brickfields, Taman Maluri, Happy Garden and many others are severely affected. These are not true-blue commercial centres but attract residents who do their grocery shopping, banking and other regular errands and find carpooling or taking public transport quite unfeasible.
So to increase the parking rates threefold or more in these areas is totally uncalled for. What else is in store is anybody’s guess.
Taxing residents this way is the wrong way to increase DBKL’s coffers. Has no one considered eradicating wastages, increasing efficiency and a better parking and public transport system, plus wiping out personal gratification and corruption as a way of putting money in the bank? Or is passing the buck to the poor, unsuspecting citizen easier and more convenient?
Saying that our parking charges are among the lowest in the world is rubbing salt into the wound. For the majority who are earning RM3,000 or less a month, these new rates will eat into their disposable income for sure.
The poor public is already undergoing hardship, having to cope with soaring prices across the board and a low standard of living, and now this.
I will not be wrong when I say that the decision to deal with parking and traffic congestion is, ironically, in the hands of privileged people who have almost never needed to park their car in a public place or taken public transport before.
Sandra Rajoo
Ipoh
It looks like authorities are never interested in taking the man-in-the-street’s perspective when handling problems or implementing policies.
Earlier, talk of increasing rates to solve the unending traffic problems, and city congestion with the aim of encouraging carpooling and taking public transport, seemed to refer to the city centre or central business district (CBD) parking bays. CBD is basically the commercial and business centre of the city. But, lo and behold, increased rates have not only been imposed in the CBD but insidiously moved into all parts of KL outside the city centre.
Residential areas like Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara, Bangsar, Brickfields, Taman Maluri, Happy Garden and many others are severely affected. These are not true-blue commercial centres but attract residents who do their grocery shopping, banking and other regular errands and find carpooling or taking public transport quite unfeasible.
So to increase the parking rates threefold or more in these areas is totally uncalled for. What else is in store is anybody’s guess.
Taxing residents this way is the wrong way to increase DBKL’s coffers. Has no one considered eradicating wastages, increasing efficiency and a better parking and public transport system, plus wiping out personal gratification and corruption as a way of putting money in the bank? Or is passing the buck to the poor, unsuspecting citizen easier and more convenient?
Saying that our parking charges are among the lowest in the world is rubbing salt into the wound. For the majority who are earning RM3,000 or less a month, these new rates will eat into their disposable income for sure.
The poor public is already undergoing hardship, having to cope with soaring prices across the board and a low standard of living, and now this.
I will not be wrong when I say that the decision to deal with parking and traffic congestion is, ironically, in the hands of privileged people who have almost never needed to park their car in a public place or taken public transport before.
Sandra Rajoo
Ipoh