LETTER | DBKL lax enforcement jerporadises KL's liveability

LETTER | I am lucky to visit many world-class cities for travel and work purposes. Every time I visit these cities, I envy how developed their infrastructure is - from public transport to how pedestrian-friendly they are.

Unfortunately, it's not the same experience as in Kuala Lumpur. Our capital city may have gone through many upgrades in infrastructure and public services, such as the free GOKL buses and MRT Kajang Line, but I'm very disappointed at how DBKL is managing the city.

If you take a walk along Pasar Seni or Petaling Street area, you will find it very challenging and dangerous to walk on the dedicated sidewalks as you have to manoeuvre between illegal street vendors blocking the sidewalks or motorcyclists using the sidewalks as shortcuts.

I was at the city centre last Sunday and was so frustrated to see how messy, disorganised KL really is. Prime areas like Bukit Bintang, Petaling Street and Masjid Jamek where the government spent billions of money to rejuvenate the area under the River of Life project - all look like third world cities.

Cars were parked by the roadside, RapidKL buses could not pass through the narrow roads at Jalan Tun Perak at Jalan Tun H.S Lee. Illegal food peddlers were blocking the sidewalk near KLCC. There were no signs of any DBKL enforcement officers.

DBKL, being the leading local council of the country, must be held accountable. Why invest so much money to build pedestrian sidewalks but only to have food vendors blocking the road? Where are DBKL's enforcement officers?

Don't they patrol and work on weekends too? Where are the traffic police? Where are all the government agencies that are supposed to make KL a world-class liveable city? Even public transport like RapidKL buses cannot function properly if DBKL is not doing their job?

We cannot be a developed nation if we cannot make our cities liveable. It's easy for DBKL to blame the people, but this is where strong enforcement should come in. We saw how Malaysians were complying with the mask mandate due to strict and frequent enforcement.

I suggest DBKL reintroduce car clamping for cars parked illegally on the roadside, work closely with JPJ and PDRM to eradicate motorcyclists from using the sidewalks or even parking at them. Sidewalks must be clear at all times for pedestrians.

DBKL must beef up their enforcement every day, from morning till night, to ensure KL improves its liveability ranking which, in return, will benefit the country's socioeconomic in the long run.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.