ABOUT a year ago, Damansara Jaya resident John Chen witnessed his neighbour being held at gunpoint by two men attempting to steal his car.

“His hand was slashed by one of the men. He was with his father at that time and for the sake of their safety, he persuaded his father to let the men take the car,” said Chen.

That was when Chen and his neighbours decided that they needed to take proactive steps to protect their safety by making their area a guarded community.

 

All fenced up: In the SS22A area in Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya, residents have even put up barbed wire at the perimeters of their housing area that were being used as entry points by thieves and robbers.

 

“About 14 of us started a security committee and we walked from house to house to get people to participate. It was quite a lot of effort,” said Chen.

After getting 85% of the 700-odd households in Damansara Jaya’s Zone B to agree to hiring guards for the area, they sent in an application to the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to put up a guard house and the scheme was implemented in December last year.

Chen’s area was just one of the many residential areas in Petaling Jaya to put up boom gates and guard houses at their own expense.

Many areas are slowly turning into urban forts with boom gates at every entrance and barriers blocking side lanes.

Damansara Jaya Zone C security committee chairman O.F. Yap said that they too had more than 85% of residents agreeing to the scheme.

“Those who pay the RM50 monthly fee would get a car sticker and those who don’t want to join the scheme, we know who they are and the guards would still let them in,” said Yap.

Yap felt that besides increasing security, implementing the guarded community have fostered better ties among residents.

Fellow Zone C resident James Chen said that before the system was implemented in December 2007, cases like snatch thefts and robberies were rampant and at the height of it, they observed 10 reported cases in a 14-day period.

“After we hired a guard, the cases dropped significantly, especially snatch thefts,” said James.

Taman Megah residents’ association chairman Francis Lee agreed, saying that areas in Taman Megah that have been gated and guarded were a lot safer.

“Initially, we put barriers on small lanes at nights to prevent access into the housing area. Upon the requests of residents, some lanes are closed to traffic even in the daytime. The only people who complain are those working in the nearby offices who want to park their cars on the lanes,” said Lee.

In SS25, Petaling Jaya, residents have opted for patrolling guards because only about 30% of the homes in the area have signed up for the security scheme.

“We do want to put up barriers but we need the consent of more residents before we can apply to the council,” said SS25 resident K.L. Tan, who initiated the programme in his area.

He said he was still in the process of roping in residents, with the help of the security company employed to patrol the area.

The MBPJ had, in early 2008, issued notices to many residents’ associations to take down their boom gates because it was against council by-laws.

Due to a strong demand from residents who feared for their safety, the state government had agreed to let the boom gates stay.

There are also some people who feel that a guarded community restricts their freedom.

A long-time resident of Jalan Datuk Sulaiman in the neighbouring Taman Tun Dr Ismail, who declined to be named, said that he did not pay for the security services started for houses along his road and had problems going back to his house.

“We don’t have a car sticker so the guard would ask us a lot of questions before we are allowed in. I think this is an invasion of our privacy,” he said.

He added that many of the smaller lanes connected to the next road would be blocked off and it has become an inconvenience.

MBPJ councillor Mak Khuin Weng said that putting up a boom gate actually contravened provisions in the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974.

“Residents who want to put up a guard house would have to get the agreement of at least 80% of residents,” said Mak.

He said that it was up to individual residents to decide if they want to pay for the services or not.

“They are not supposed to block off roads and lanes and the council could take action if there are complaints,” he said.