CITY HALL has instructed the owner of an unoccupied house in Luyang to tidy up his compound, including getting rid of any unwanted belongings, while another rate-payer faces court action for failing to tend to the overgrown land behind his vacant unit in Kolombong, despite repeatedly being told to do so.
This follows feedback from the public on Lorong Zirafah 3 and Lorong Pokok Resam 7 about the potential health and fire hazards posed by the mess inside both residences.
A spokesman for the agency said personnel from its Building Control Department checked on the property in Luyang Phase 2 and found the yard to be in a state of disarray.
“The grass had been cut but there was building material lying about here and there,” he said. “Zinc sheets and metal rods had been dumped in the front compound.
“These items must have been piled up here for some time as creepers had grown over them in some places.”
He said the homeowner was later apprised of these observations.
“Our staff managed to contact him, asking him to get his yard in order and to dispose of anything he did not want.
“The individual verbally agreed to clean up this mess. He has been given a grace period in which to keep his word.”
The spokesman said a follow-up inspection would be made after this.
“Further action can be taken against him if our instructions go unheeded.”
DAMON of Luyang voiced his concern about the potential negative impact of a “warehouse” in the neighbourhood.
Some glass doors were leaned up against one wall of the house, with iron rods and other construction items strewn in the compound, according to him.
He said the area around the building was also full of tall grass.
“Over the past few months, more and more items have been placed around the vacant house,” he said.
“Pools of water have collected on the surface or inside some of these items, which I suspect may have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.”
Damon decried the activities of the homeowner as endangering the wellbeing of the other residents in the area.
“A stray spark is all it will take to set any flammable items inside the compound on fire.”
The trees have become so tall that they loom over the other homes in Taman BDC Phase 1.
He said this blaze could spread quickly to the other homes in Luyang Phase 2.
A spokesman for City Hall’s Landscaping Department confirmed that the yard around the premises on Lorong Zirafah 3 was overgrown last month.
“The compound did not appear to have been maintained for some time,” he said. It was full of ‘lalang’ which was about thigh-high.
“A ‘surat peringatan (reminder letter)’ was attached to the front gate of his premises, after this came to light. He was instructed to have the grass cut with immediate effect.”
He said Landscaping staff returned to the area a fortnight later to find that he had fulfilled the agency’s instructions.
The spokesman urged rate-payers with vacant houses not to be lax about tending to the weeds and grass on their property.
“Such maintenance should preferably be performed on a monthly basis.”
He said those who failed to heed this advice and repeatedly allowed their property to become unkempt risked being charged in court, under Section 49 (c) of the Local Government Ordinance 1961 (Amendment 2000).
If found guilty, they faced the possibility of having to settle a fine for as much as RM1,000, serve a jail term of up to six-months or both, according to him.
“We are presently working with our Legal Department to begin court proceedings against negligent homeowners.”
He said a final warning, signed by the Mayor, would be given to these rate-payers as part of this process.
“They will be notified that their ‘overgrown and unmaintained’ compounds are an eye sore and source of discomfort to the public in the area due to the presence of pests, including mosquitoes, which might be breeding on their property.
“A seven day grace-period will be given for these individuals to abate this nuisance.
“If they fail to comply, then we will have no choice but to initiate legal action.”
The spokesman said City Hall was gearing up to bring a homeowner in Taman BDC Phase 1 to court as he had blatantly disregarded the agency’s requests to deal with his unkempt backyard.
“The area is overgrown with weeds and wild tapioca plants. The trees in the compound have become so tall that they loom over the other houses nearby.”
He said the rate-payer had been notified twice over the past four months to deal with the overgrown greenery as it had become a public nuisance: once on July 17 and again on September 21.
The backyard of this unoccupied house in Kolombong is overgrown badly.
“Nothing has been done so far, so we are working with our peers at the Property Department to begin legal proceedings against him,” he said.
