The Star, April 3, 2006

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Nation
Monday April 3, 2006


Council taking disabled woman to court over parking fees

By THO XIN YI

KUALA LUMPUR: It can be difficult to find disabled-friendly parking space in Klang, yet the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) is prepared to take a disabled woman to court for failure to pay parking-related compounds.

Independent Living & Training Centre secretary Gurdip Kaur @ Rina was taken aback to receive a notice dated March 30 from the council informing her that court action “will be initiated at any time” against her.


NOTICE OF ACTION: Rina holding up the notice from the Klang Municipal Council during press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
The letter was headed “Notice of Court Action and Warrant of Arrest”.

Rina, 45, made frequent visits to Klang in mid-2004 as the centre was organising an event there and received about 10 compounds then for not paying parking fees.

“There were no parking lots for the disabled and the ticket machines were inaccessible for wheelchair-bound people as there were poles in front of them,” she said yesterday at a press conference.

According to her, when she called the council to explain the situation, its legal adviser Fadzilah Abd Aziz said: “Whether you are disabled or not, you have to pay the parking fees. Rules are rules.”

Rina, who has been paralysed from the waist downwards after a fall in 1993, then wrote a letter of appeal to the council on Feb 22 last year, enclosing a copy of her disabled person's identification card.

However, she received the council’s notice last Friday.

Rina – who said she did not get help from passers-by to pay her parking fee because she “wanted to be independent” – felt that the council should not penalise disabled people when it did not provide adequate parking facilities for them.

“I don’t want to see the same thing happening to other disabled people,” she said.

Centre adviser Anthony Thanasayan said local authorities of places like Seremban and Kajang would cancel such compounds once the situation had been explained to them.

“Why can’t MPK do the same?

“Malaysia is a caring society but this incident shows that some people are insensitive. It’s as if these people are sending out a strong message: ‘Don’t come out. Stay at home'. But we are just like anyone else,” he said.

Anthony said the centre hoped to meet with Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting to discuss this issue.

“The ministry should educate local councils on how to treat us right,” he said, urging local authorities to work more closely with disabled groups.

When contacted, MPK public relations officer Norfiza Mahfiz said Rina should see her at the council office to sort out the matter.

However, she added: “Whether you are disabled or not, parking without paying the parking fees is wrong.

“She can be granted a discount, but we are not going to cancel the compounds.”

Norfiza also advised the public to follow the rules strictly.











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