The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has received many requests from residents urging the council to improve the infrastructure and facilities in Petaling Jaya Old Town.
Although the council is looking forward to enhancing the area, they are unable to do so as most of land here is privately owned.
PJ Old Town cannot keep up with the pace of the developments around it and the residents are facing issues such as traffic congestion, lack of parking space, unlicensed businesses (operating from houses) and old drainage.
At the moment, the council is working on upgrading the infrastructures and facilities at the wet market, bus terminal and Medan Selera, where the lands are not privately owned.
Besides the ongoing underground sewerage project, the council is also spending over RM2 million for upgrade works at the wet market which is expected to be completed in August 2016. This includes the replacement of floor tiles, roof repairs, waterproofing the parking lot’s ceiling (on the third floor) and repainting the building’s exterior.
The bus terminal which was built in the 1970s has also been demolished and a multi-storey bus terminal is being constructed in its place. This project by the Transport Ministry costs RM4 million and will include retail shops on the first floor.
The residents have shown their disagreement with the plan to include retail shops, as a parking lot would be more convenient. Yet the plan was not considered as it will further increase the traffic congestion and discourage people to use public transportation.
Moreover, MBPJ has plans to give a facelift to Medan Selera and link it to the upcoming bus terminal via a pedestrian bridge. According to the council, that is the best they can do for PJ Old Town and it is now up to the owners to give their old premises a makeover.
Images: Sourced from The Star
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
