The curious case of sudden parking fees in Petaling Jaya

A report by the Sun has exposed that workers around a Petaling Jaya business area are suddenly getting parking summonses for their cars, as PJ City Council has apparently started charging for parking there without appropriately informing anyone.

According to the report, workers around the business area at Jalan Kilang 51/205, off Jalan Tandang, are shocked at getting summonses despite properly parking inside the bays provided.

The Sun's investigation has concluded that the PJ City Council has started charging for parking there, and the only indication that they have started doing so is the numbering placed at the parking bays, which have been painted on recently.

Picture credit: Muhammad Yusry/SunPix

A worker who the daily interviewed said "If I knew that I had to pay, I would have. But there was no (notice) saying that I needed to pay. Just putting numbers on a parking bay does not directly translate to 'I must pay for parking."

Another worker commented that "she noticed the city council had marked each parking bay with a number, but had not been informed of the need to pay a parking fee."

When the Sun confronted the enforcement officer for the area, he basically said that he was just following orders as he had consulted his "boss" who gave him the green light to give out the summonses.

"I was around this area and I noticed there's a lot of cars here. I called my boss to ask him if I could summon those cars that didn't pay our fee. He said 'yes' and I just carried out my duty. That's it." 

Even if those workers wanted to pay for the parking, it seems that there are no places to do so, according to another worker from the area.

“Do we have to pay for the parking spots? If we do, where should we pay and how does the system work? Not all of us are residents of Petaling Jaya.”

the Sun made an effort to contact the PJ City Council regarding the matter, but it looks like they have not received a response regarding the curious case of the sudden parking charges.