Pandan Perdana Pavement Upgrade – Never On Sunday

Upgrading of pavement at Pandan Perdana
Upgrading of pavement at Pandan Perdana.

A few stretches of pavements at Jalan Perdana 3/1 in Pandan Perdana are currently being upgraded. I am very particular about these upgrading works because the previous upgrading on a different stretch of the pavement was done haphazardly and could not be used safely although I have stressed to the previous ADUN for Teratai on the need to follow the code of practice. He was the one who got the allocation for upgrading part of the pavement in 2007.

Anyway, imagine to my horror when I found out that there were no kerb ramps to the pavements in the current upgrading works. I asked around and was made to understand that the MP for Pandan Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat had provided an allocation for these works. I posted a note in Facebook and tagged him, asking him to ensure that there are kerbs ramps as one of the pavements has a bus stop. If we cannot get to the bus stop, we definitely cannot board the buses when RapidKL deploy their non-step buses on this route.

The bus stop at Pandan Perdana
The bus stop in the midst of pavement upgrading works at Pandan Perdana.

Through Facebook, I was given the phone number of Ong Tee Keat’s Service Centre Public Liaison Officer, Kent Ng, together with the office phone and email. I called the office number on Sunday afternoon. There was no answer. Then I called Kent and explained the issue to him. He said he would get back to me. I followed up with an email briefly detailing on how the kerb ramp should be constructed.

Work on the pavement is currently still on going. I was afraid that the pavement would be completed before any action is taken. I waited until this afternoon and called Kent again. He told me that he would submit my complaint to Datuk Seri Ong. I asked him when and explained the urgency of the matter. What he said to me following that was totally unexpected.

No kerb ramp
No kerb ramp.

“Mister, you called me on Sunday. Do you know Sunday is rest day?”

It was not what he said that irked me but the tone of him saying it. I said I knew but it is Monday now and I am calling him again to check and ask him when action will be taken. He gave me the same line that he will submit my complaint and that I had called him on a Sunday. YES, I KNEW IT WAS SUNDAY! If the matter was not urgent, I would not have called.

After that incident, and as far as I am concerned, I have done the necessary to enlighten Datuk Seri Ong regarding this matter. I shall wait and see how it pans out. Surely, the MP for Pandan who is also the Minister of Transport already understands the issues of public transport with regards to the street environment. His ministry and related agencies have been engaging disabled persons’ organisations in this matter for a long time already. I pray he will do the right thing.

Hmm, I hear the Chordettes singing…

Another end of pavement with no kerb ramp
Another end of pavement with no kerb ramp.

Close up of the dug up pavement with kerb
Close up of the dug up pavement with kerb.

Ambushing Datuk Ong Tee Keat

Datuk Ong Tee Keat with Peter Tan and Robert Wang at Pandan Perdana
Datuk Ong Tee Keat, Robert Wang and Peter Tan at Pandan Perdana.
Photo by Wuan.

My fellow advocate Robert Wang and I had planned to meet the Member of Parliament for Pandan Datuk Ong Tee Keat who is also the Minister of Transport regarding the problems with using public transport that disabled people all over Malaysia are facing.

As luck would have it, he came to Pandan Perdana to launch the Tasik Perdana Family Day last Sunday. Robert and I “ambushed” him as he was about to leave after a press conference. He stayed back for a while to listen to the two of us telling him about the problems with RapidKL, Rapid Penang, Star LRT and the built environment in general.

We also intimated to him that we have met with the previous Minister of Transport, other government officials and representatives from RapidKL but nothing much was done to resolve the issues. Unfortunately, according to him, RapidKL does not come under his ministry but under the Ministry of Finance. Nevertheless, Datuk Ong requested that we furnish him with more information on our complaints for him to understand the issue better.