Liu: Security services guidelines almost complete

From The Star, Metro
Tuesday February 23, 2010

By ELAN PERUMAL
elan@thestar.com.my

THE requirement for 85% of residents to approve the conversion of a housing estate into a gated and guarded community will remain under the standard guidelines that are expected to be released soon by the Selangor government.

Under the guidelines, which are in the final stage of preparation, residents or residents associations are not allowed to engage guards or fence up an area without the approval of the local authority.

State local government committee chairman Ronnie Liu said the local authorities had an important role to play in deciding on guarding and gating a particular area.


Clearing the air: Liu said the guidelines would provide a step-by-step guide to setting up a gated and guarded community

He said the residents must first approach their local authorities before pursuing their intentions.

“The local authorities will guide the residents on how to go about guarding and gating the area.

“This procedure must be strictly followed as the move to turn an existing housing estate into a guarded or gated one is a tedious process,” he said, adding that it involved a lot issues including the practicality of doing so.

Liu said fencing up a particular area, would affect the movement and activities of residents as it involved closing access routes that had existed from the beginning.

He said some people would feel that their freedom had been restricted by the closure of certain roads in the area.

“Others may feel that there is no need to have guards in the area or fences around their houses and there will be a group of people who will want the service of the security guards but are unwilling to pay for it.” he said.

Liu also said when the area was fenced up, the residents must understand that the local authorities would not provide maintenance services, including garbage collection.

He said the services would be offered by private contractors hired by the residents themselves.

“These are the consequences faced by residents who live in gated communities but it is not an issue for them because they knew that they had to pay for their own services when they bought their homes in the gated communities.

“However, those residing in normal areas are not used to these conditions and will not feel comfortable if they were suddenly asked to pay for the services that they have been enjoying for free in the past.

“The guidelines will cover such details to ensure that most of the residents agree before an area is made into a guarded or gated one,” he said.

Currently, Liu said there were no clear guidelines for residents to convert an area into a guarded or gated community and this had led to a lot of confusion.

“The guidelines will provide a step-by-step guide so that the residents will know what they need to do in order for them to turn their areas into a gated community,” he said.