Maintenance is the responsibility of all

NST – 21 March 2013

THEY live in a high-rise but their mentalities are disproportionately low. That best describes some of the 4,000 residents of the People's Housing Project (PPR) in Section 8 of Kota Damansara.

With missing staircase handrails, vandalised fire safety equipment and lifts, the living conditions at the four 18-storey blocks of flats are fast becoming deplorable.

This situation, however, did not happen overnight. The residents claim that they have been facing these problems and a host of others, over the past six years. If the matter is left unattended, more public facilities there will suffer further damage. While fingers are pointed at the local council and management office for slacking in maintenance duties, the residents must also consider how these amenities, built with their convenience in mind, are so easily vandalised by the residents themselves.

Although a handful of bad hats are probably responsible for the vandalism, the majority of residents who want to enjoy a more conducive living environment must also play a role to keep these public facilities in good condition.

Instead of just relying on the authorities to launch awareness campaigns, the residents' association or even the management body should constantly educate the residents on the need to keep their environment safe for all. A weekly voluntary spruce-up, a monthly gotong-royong, and "in-house" campaigns to keep the facilities in good conditions can help drive the message that it is the responsibility of all.

The authorities and the residents of public housing can emulate some of the strategies employed by Singapore's Housing and Development Board (HDB) to keep the housing schemes in good order. Apart from the main upgrading programme, which involves the demolition of entire blocks for redevelopment, HDB also carries out smaller scale programmes to upgrade facilities at the housing schemes. These include a regular home improvement programme that addresses common maintenance problems to ensure that they do not escalate into big issues.

Should these initiatives fail, the authorities may have to draft a regulation on public housing use so that the problem of damage to public amenities can be minimised.

Take the Yukon government, for example, which has introduced a Government Facilities Use Regulation with the aim of addressing the issue of damage inflicted on government facilities. With such a regulation in place, the authority can effectively govern the maintenance, management, proper use, and protection of government facilities. The government states that the regulation may be enforced through fines or removal of property. A similar regulation could be introduced for public housing here. The authorities here are already being lenient by not evicting the residents who unashamedly live in public housing without paying their monthly rent. Closing one eye on vandals bent on destroying public amenities will only bring on more problems.

Source: New Straits Times
Photo courtesy of Flickr / MVI