Little Napoleon of Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya

Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya or MPAJ is well known for the wrong reasons: abusive, inept, corrupt, ignorant or just dishonest. They are quick to pounce on alleged offenders. However when you ask them to exercise their authority to solve common problems facing residents they are not available or incapacitated. It is inevitable that the public sense of trust on MPAJ is very low, and consequently the public is likely to ignore them or their bylaws.

As ordinary law abiding citizen I employed an architect to design and submit building plan for the renovation of my house to MPAJ.The plan was approved and the work was completed almost a year ago. The certificate of fitness was also issued which signified my compliance with the building bylaw. My architect paid on my behalf a processing fee of RM 120 and a returnable deposit of RM550 when submitting the plan for approval.

I made the request for the return of my deposit on 25 July 2006. The next day an employee of MPAJ by the name of Fazillah phone to ask if I have used their bin for the disposal of the building debris. My spontaneous reply was I did not use their bin because the disposal of the debris was all handled by my building contractor who in turn contract it out to a company specialising in debris disposal called Jiwa Arif. She said that since I did not use MPAJ's bin I have committed an offence and therefore shall be subjected to a penalty. I told her that I am not aware of this rule since there was nothing in writing and she said it is my duty to ask!

MPAJ phone on 18 September 2006 informing me that the check for the deposit was ready for collection. A surprised was waiting for me when I discovered that the amount return to me was only RM 39, i.e. I was fined for RM 511. I consulted my architect who told me that she was not aware of the requirements and later she followed it up with the town planning department of MPAJ. The latter gave the architect the impression that the rule is made by another department and they do not see eye to eye with each other. It was also told to me that MPAJ do not have the bin but make use of the bin from a company registered with MPAJ. It seems there is only one company registered with MPAJ for this purpose.

It is quite obvious that MPAJ operates their business at the whim and fancy of their employees.They do not even understand their own objective and the laws under which they operate. The lack of transparency such as this could only lead to corrupt practices. I feel that they were established not to help residents but to help themselves conduct illicit business. They should be concerned about the disposal of the debris itself instead of which bin I made use of. Imagine if I have my own lorry or a relative has a lorry help to clear and transport the debris, and will this not be sufficient? It could help me reduced my cost of the renovation.

At the rate MPAJ introduced hidden rules to the public I will not be surprised that they may in future ask residents to employ only professionals like architect, engineer, contractor etc. that are registered with them.