Latest news with #RM12mil
The Star
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Star
Contradictheory: Parking hell in KL
I live in a neighbourhood that's just around the corner from a bustling commercial area. It's got almost everything, from a few mamak stalls, a supermarket, and a wet market to a hospital even, across the road. Yes, there are no playgrounds or libraries, but it's still a pretty good place to be. Now, when I say it's 'just around the corner', I mean it's a five-minute drive. But sometimes, it's actually faster to take the 20-minute walk. Why? Because finding parking is like playing musical chairs, if it's a game with 20 moving players looking at 30 full seats, one of which is occupied by a Vellfire that's actually too big for its space. Things get even more chaotic on Fridays during prayer time, or on pasar malam days. And if there's a Ramadan bazaar? Forget it. I imagine some might find it worthwhile taking taxis from where they park. To be fair, enforcement is hard. Malaysians find it easy to forget to pay for their parking, which then means there's no cost to keeping the car there for as long as they like. How bad is it? According to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), there are 59,000 street parking bays in KL and prior to 2024, they generated about RM12mil a year from these spots. This now becomes one of those maths word problems. Let's assume a parking rate of 80 sen per hour (this is the lowest rate, which is about a third of the maximum possible). How many parking bays do you need filled up Monday to Saturday, from 7.30am to 6pm, to generate that much revenue? Answer: Just over 4,500 parking lots need to be occupied full time for a whole year. This represents about 7.7% of all street parking bays available. Which might mean over 90% of people who park don't pay for parking, and really should. It's OK, because these malefic transgressors will then be fined, and we will get income through that, right? Except that parking related fines only contribute an additional RM3mil annually (and that includes those who parked on a yellow line, or double park). While it's easy for us to bemoan Malaysians and their lack of civic-mindedness, I should point you to a study on Bangkok which reported that, in 2020, only 18% of motorists paid their fines. Meanwhile in the United States, one study showed more than 20% of drivers don't pay for their parking, depending on the city. All this of course results in less income for the local authority. For example, DBKL projected in its 2025 budget presentation that they will collect RM34.12mil in parking revenue, representing 1.41% of its budget. You will note that its anticipated earnings is significantly higher than the RM12mil quoted before. The bulk of it is because they hope to be stricter in enforcement – or at least the perception of it. As the DBKL Enforcement Department director said, 'When people see enforcement officers on the ground, they're more likely to pay for parking'. However, I'm fairly reluctant for the city to fund itself by fining its citizens. It almost creates a perverse incentive where you're hoping as many people as possible break the law so you can collect more money. Indeed, there is a news report from 2013 where in order to meet quotas set by councils in London, civil enforcement officers (fundamentally, privatised traffic wardens) were pressured to issue more tickets, with threats of withholding holidays or overtime pay. But I'll even go one step further. I think city councils should not see parking lots as a cash cow to maximise profits. They should see them as tools with which to manage traffic flow in and around the city. Take for example an initiative in New York City in 2012. The city introduced higher parking rates during peak hours, which then discouraged long-term parking, and encouraged turnover. The result? People parked 20% less long in time, more people found available spaces (18% increase in unique visitors), and overall traffic dropped by 7% as people stopped having to circle endlessly looking for spaces. Seattle, in the state of Washington, meanwhile tries to find the lowest hourly rate that leaves at least one or two parking spaces available on every block throughout the day. They adjust their rates three times a year, and use time of day, day of the week, and events to modify rates. Amsterdam increased parking rates by 65%, resulting in fewer cars from outside the local area coming in, and more space for locals who have parking permits, and better traffic flow during rush hour. The point isn't profit, but to help the people in the city. Parking that is expensive enough also discourages people from taking cars, and encourages us to take public transport. Of course, all of this only works if enforcement works, and is seen to be fair. And, at least in the short term, fines should be used to fund strong enforcement teams. The other requirement is improved public transportation links, which further reduce overall traffic. My personal hope is that somewhere like KL's Bukit Bintang area will be car free. And if we're really hopeful, in some future utopia with self-driving cars and artificial intelligence- aided traffic control, all this will be irrelevant. But until then, parking availability is part of an integral system, rather than just a piecemeal add-on feature to a neighbourhood. Imagine how much more we would benefit if we could erase the parking lines, take away cars, and build – dare I say – playgrounds and libraries. Logic is the antithesis of emotion but mathematician-turned-scriptwriter Dzof Azmi's theory is that people need both to make sense of life's vagaries and contradictions. Write to Dzof at lifestyle@ The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.
The Star
6 days ago
- The Star
RM35.4mil worth of frozen food seized from unlicensed premises, 29 held in Sabah-wide ops
KOTA KINABALU: Authorities have seized over RM35.4mil worth of frozen food products and detained 29 individuals in a major crackdown on unlicensed storage and distribution centres across Sabah. The coordinated operation, dubbed Ops Taring Chiller, was carried out simultaneously in 10 districts on Tuesday (July 15), targeting warehouses and key distribution hubs suspected of operating without valid permits. Sabah General Operations Force (GOF) Brigade Commander Datuk Abdul Rani Alias ( pic ) said the operation — based out of Kinarut — involved 275 personnel from various enforcement agencies. They were joined by officers from the Sabah Veterinary Services Department, the Health Ministry, and the Sabah Agriculture Department. 'In total, 29 individuals — 22 men and seven women aged between 20 and 60 years old — were arrested during raids across Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Papar, Sandakan, Tawau, Kunak, Semporna, Lahad Datu, Tenom, and Keningau,' he told a press conference at the PGA Sabah headquarters in Kinarut Wednesday (July 16). The confiscated items included chicken, beef and seafood products, as well as frozen items such as French fries and meatballs. Authorities also seized cold room facilities, industrial freezers, meat slicers and refrigerated trucks. 'Of the total seizure, over RM12mil worth of items were confiscated in Kota Kinabalu alone,' he said. A total of 19 premises were raided — 15 were found to have committed various offences, three were clean, and one was not in operation during the raid. Abdul Rani said six major violations were detected, including operating without a business licence; breaching the Animal Welfare Enactment 2015; Food Act 1983; Local Government Act 1976; Trade Licensing Ordinance 1948; and the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and its regulations. Checks also revealed that most frozen goods were locally repackaged to disguise their origins. 'We believe the items were repackaged domestically to mislead authorities. This operation targeted only storage and distribution centres, not retailers or small sales stores,' he added. He said the raids were conducted following two to three weeks of surveillance and intelligence gathering, timed to coincide with the early morning start of business operations. 'Most of those arrested were warehouse workers, while the rest were premises owners,' he said. All suspects and confiscated goods have been handed over to the relevant agencies for further action under existing laws. 'This operation will continue in stages with other enforcement agencies. Our main objective is to safeguard consumers and ensure that supplied food is safe and of good quality,' he added.
The Star
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Dataprep signs IP rights agreement
PETALING JAYA: Dataprep Holdings Bhd 's subsidiaries Solsis (M) Sdn Bhd and Dataprep (M) Sdn Bhd have signed separate intellectual property (IP) rights purchase and transfer agreements with Qingdao Xingyun Digital Technology Co Ltd (QXDT) for RM12mil and RM3.5mil, respectively. Under the agreements signed on June 26, Zenith City Management Services (Sichuan) Co Ltd committed to fulfilling the entire payment obligation to QXDT in exchange for the exclusive rights to use the IP assets. Dataprep is involved in the development and maintenance of underground telecommunication infrastructure in Bandung, Indonesia, as well as the construction of a telecommunication microcell pole for a 30-year concession period.
The Star
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Dataprep signs IP rights agreement totalling RM15.5mil
PETALING JAYA: Dataprep Holdings Bhd 's subsidiaries Solsis (M) Sdn Bhd and Dataprep (M) Sdn Bhd have signed separate intellectual property (IP) rights purchase and transfer agreements with Qingdao Xingyun Digital Technology Co. Ltd (QXDT) for RM12mil and RM3.5mil, respectively. Under the agreements signed on June 26, Zenith City Management Services (Sichuan) Co Ltd committed to fulfilling the entire payment obligation to QXDT in exchange for the exclusive rights to use the IP assets. To put it into perspective, Dataprep is involved in the development and maintenance of underground telecommunication infrastructure in Bandung, Indonesia, as well as the construction of a telecommunication microcell pole for a 30-year concession period. 'The agreements (signed on June 26) will enable the company, through Zenith, to increase the potential revenue from the digital infrastructure by offering additional products and services to maximise its utilisation, which can be provided to an estimated population of 2.76 million within the Bandung metro area and for other projects undertaken by Zenith,' stated Dataprep in a bourse filing.
The Star
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Five illegal waste dumping sites identified in Kuala Langat
KUALA LANGAT: Five locations, each spanning 2ha to 4ha, are being used as illegal dumping sites in several areas in the district, says KDEB Waste Management. Its managing director Datuk Ramli Mohd Tahir said the Kuala Langat district has become a hotspot for large-scale illegal dumping due to its proximity to the Tanjung Dua Belas landfill. 'Among the identified locations are Johan Setia, Sijangkang, Bukit Changgang, Telok Panglima Garang, Tanjung Dua Belas and land lots near the sea. 'We believe these activities are carried out by people from outside Kuala Langat. 'I suspect this is done by external parties, including factories, because all waste management tenders in this district are handled by KDEB Waste Management. 'We also constantly monitor the schedule and movement of every truck to ensure waste is disposed of in the correct places,' he told reporters at the Kuala Langat Municipal Council (MPKL) headquarters here yesterday, Bernama reported. KDEB Waste Management, in collaboration with MPKL, has tried to curb the problem by collecting commercial and institutional industrial waste over the past three years. However, it continues to occur and proliferate each year. In response, Ramli said the contract extension between KDEB Waste Management and MPKL until July 2032 will serve as a stepping stone for both parties to work together and plan new approaches to address the illegal dumping problem in Kuala Langat. 'As an initial step, KDEB Waste Management launched 25 units of 19-tonne compactor trucks, two 7.5-tonne mini compactors and one arm roll truck equipped with roll-on roll-off (RoRo) bins, with an allocation totalling RM12mil for waste collection in the district. 'The management of illegal waste falls outside KDEB Waste Management's scope, but if there's a request from the District and Land Office, I have no problem mobilising available assets to clean up the affected areas with the assistance of MPKL,' he said. Earlier, Ramli, accompanied by MPKL president Datuk Amirul Azizan Abd Rahim, launched the compactor trucks and the new KDEB Waste Management image at the MPKL headquarters here.
