CIRCULAR 10 FEB 2012

Dear Residents of Taman Tasek,


The committee is pleased to announce that a fruitful meeting was arranged for the committee on 2nd Feb 2012 by Madam Chang Mei Kee with Tuan Hj Sulaiman , Head Of Engineering Dept and Affendi Ahamad of the Town Planning Dept to discuss the security scheme. The presence of YB Chia Soon Cheng, ADUN for Pengkalan Rinting served to smoothen the discussion. The MBJB has no strong objection to the Tasek plan except that the three entrances i.e Jeram , Lembah and KK be manned. As it was impossible to place guards at these points for 24 hours we proposed that it be manned from 7am to 7 pm after which it will be closed. As the conditions imposed by MBJB can be met, we believe that approval for the scheme is imminent.
However a shocking incident happened on 6th Feb when at approx. 11.49 am , two irate men took turns to hammer to destroy the locks at Lembah barrier. The criminal acts were recorded on CCTV. Later we found that the barriers at the backlane near Assam Pedas and the KK restaurant were also damaged. A police report has been made and the video showing clearly the culprits’ faces was given to the investigating officer. The committee regrets that the complainants have taken the law into their own hand and resorted to physical violence to air their grievances instead of negotiation . Subsequently, to further aggravate the situation, on 8th Feb several shopowners sent a memo to MBJB registering a strong objection to the One –in One-out proposal and demanded that all road within Taman be opened to public. The reasons given is that their movements and businesses will be affected. We have studied the memo and are of the view that most of the reasons given are unsubstantiated allegations. A copy of the memo will be posted on the blog. The committee is prepared to engage them with a view of an amicable settlement but presently emotions were too high for direct negotiation. Last week the committee met 4 times to deliberate and even brought YB Chia to look at the auto boom gates and explained the scheme to him. The erroneous impression that these boom gates was impeding exit movement was corrected when he found that these boom gates actually allowed for exit even for non-paying vehicles via the touch button. The system will capture and record the faces when this is done .
The committee is now in a dilemma and does not want an unpleasant confrontation with the shop-owners whose priorities are diametrically opposite.

After much deliberation, the Committee made the following decisions with regards to the barriers:
Entrance Time
Jeram 7am -7pm Guard
7pm To 7am Close
Lembah 7am -7pm Open
7pm -7am Close
KK 6am -10 am Open

On Sundays and public holidays all these 3 points will be closed.

The Lembah entrance is too close to the junction and has no room for a guard house and stopping vehicles will cause traffic jam. The long term solution is to persuade the authorities to allow us to close this entry and hence obviate need for a guard. The KK barrier has been damaged and needed time to repair . The Chinese Chambers of Commerce has forwarded our request to the shop owners but has not received any response. We encourage all residents to use the Tasek entrance wherever possible. Let us accept a little inconvenience for the sake of our security for our family and children..
Some of the residents asked on the blog whether we should have foreseen the objections from the shopowners. The answer is yes but not the way they showed their objections. Generally most shopowners are not affected or bothered as there is unimpeded vehicle circulation except for some unhappy few who instigated the rest. For example the Indian man who delivered the first hammer is actually a bus driver staying in the terrace house and has nothing to do with the shopowners.
The committee is exploring all options including whether we should collect the subscription ourselves so that we can have better control over the security company . In the meantime we urge residents to continue to support the scheme, and have faith that the present challenges will be overcome soon.
Finally, for emergency, please call the Hotline numbers 017-843 6436 or 016-795 4033 and for complaints about guards, or security issues, please call direct to Capt. Raja at 019-757 1914.
For update and happenings within Taman Tasek, please log in our blog tamantasek.blogspot...com or email tamantasek@gmail.com.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Tan Beng Sooi
Chairman
PERSATUAN MASYARAKAT
TAMAN TASEK JOHOR BAHRU