City Hall urged to do so in an effort to solve parking woes

Khalid: Build more car parks
City Hall urged to do so in an effort to solve parking woes

BUILD more multi-storey car parks to solve parking woes in the city, Bandar Tun Razak MP Tan Sri Khalid lbrahim urged Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

He said City Hall should build proper parking facilities, including more multi-storey car parks, for residents if the local authority was serious about solving the problem.

"If this is done, more cars could use the facilities instead of using vacant land to park their vehicles.

"City Hall should also consider maximising the land usage and spend some money to build the facilities.

"They also need to consider using similar concepts implemented hypermarkets where vehicle owners are charged a minimum fee to park their vehicles for the benefit of residents in the area," he said.

Khalid said he would meet KL mayor Datuk Abdul Hakim Borhan today to submit the suggestion.

He said he would also forward complaints made by the residents in his constituency to the mayor during the meeting.

"I did not know that they had so many grouses that have been going on for quite sometime,

"I will forward them to the mayor when I see him," he said.

He was speaking after meeting the residents in Bandar Tun Razak on Saturday.

Residents, especially those staying in the Seri Permaisuri fiats, had complained about the parking system there.

Lack of parking facilities had forced them to double and triplepark which caused inconvenience to residents as well as customers of the commercial units.

To make matter worse, the nearby vacant lot had been turned into a parking area, requiring residents and commercial unit owners to pay for leaving their vehicles there.

"Previously, they were charged 50sen per hour but now, due to high demand for the service, the charge has increased to RM2 an hour.

"People feel that the charge is too high to pay for parking," Khalid added.
Residents had also complained about the poor condition of their 30-year-old block of flats.

Khalid also pledged to help residents in the area own their own homes.

Travel fair banking on mandatory insurance

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Fair 2007 exhibitors are optimistic that the mandatory
travel insurance imposed on tour packages has restored public confidence.

"We are very confident that this fair will do even better than the previous ones, especially with the mandatory travel insurance schemes we have been told to sell to our customers," said a senior staff of Hwajing Travel and Tours who wanted to be known as Lim.

She said people were more aware of the insurance and taking measures to protect their bookings.

The industry was shaken recently by the closure of a top travel agency causing its clients to lose money from bookings they had made.

Hundreds of exhibitors showed up yesterday to ballot for their booths for the fair scheduled for Sept 7 - 9 at Putra World Trade Centre.

Matta deputy president Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun said 90% of the booths had been sold.

"We've had a lot of enquiries and things are looking good," he said.

"The rules and regulations this time are stricter and better, thus the high confidence level in exhibitors and public.

"There will be no more cases of tour agendes absconding," he added.

Malaysia to gain organic farming expertise

ROME: Malaysia is keen on getting Italian technical expertise in offshore fish farming, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday.

This is one of the specific projects that has been identified by the two countries as they set out to develop closer links in the field of agriculture.

To signal their commitment, Muhyiddin and Italy’s Agriculture and Forestry Policies Minister, Paolo De Castro, yesterday signed the Joint Declaration on Agricultural Co-operation, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Muhyiddin said the two countries would form a joint committee to move it forward.

To be chaired either by the minister or a senior officer, the committee will meet once a year alternately in Kuala Lumpur and here.
Muhyiddin said Malaysia was also interested in gaining Italian know-how in organic farming; research and development in crop genes and microbiology, farming automation, vaccines for the livestock industry, and alfalfa planting for the equestrian industry.

The Malaysia-Italy Business Council would also be created for the private sector, he said.

The minister noted that trade in agriculture between the two countries was limited now as the bulk of Malaysian agricultural products entered Italy through the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. — Bernama

Eric Chia acquitted of CBT

Tycoon Tan Sri Eric Chia Eng Hock was wheeled out of the Kuala Lumpur court complex a free man after he was acquitted by the Sessions Court of committing criminal breach of trust 13 years ago involving RM76.4mil.