Abandoned houses pose crime risk, health hazard — Datuk Bandar
KUCHING: Abandoned houses that are accessible to the public risk being turned into a den for criminals and drug users.
Datuk Bandar of Kuching North City Commission ( DBKU) Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai said such structures, which are left in a state of disrepair and overgrown with bushes, also pose a threat to the health of residents in the area.
“We have also received reports of abandoned houses which have become breeding spots for rats, snakes and other pests. This has caused unease among the surrounding residents,” he said during a walkabout with residents of Jalan Pisang Barat, Jalan Intan, Jalan Eastern Park and Jalan Nanas Barat here yesterday.
Abang Abdul Wahap said DBKU has been working to identify owners of these abandoned properties, but are often met with many obstacles such as dual ownership as well as homes being held by the bank for delinquent mortgage.
“We have the authority to cut the grass in the compounds of these abandoned houses when necessary. But to whom do we send the bill to? Is it to the individual (owner), or the bank?
“DBKU will incur large losses if we are to simply carry out housekeeping works for free at all the abandoned houses under our jurisdiction,” he added.
During the walkabout yesterday, the commission was informed that at least five houses in the said areas have been abandoned by the owners.
“There could be more houses which are left abandoned. This is why we ( DBKU) are holding this walkabout to record the baseline data,” said the Datuk Bandar.
According to him, DBKU is considering to get each neighbourhood committee to conduct a gotong royong to clear overgrown bushes at abandoned houses – an activity he said was carried out successfully in Semariang.
“What we want is to curb criminals from harboring in an area and then later see these criminals going into other areas to commit crimes,” he said.
Touching on the residential areas in Jalan Pisang Barat, Jalan Intan, Jalan Eastern Park and Jalan Nanas Barat, he said these areas lie on the suburb of DBKU’s ongoing Safe City programme and that the commission will erect signboards to display emergency telephone numbers, light up certain areas, create a secured motorcycle parking area, build speed bumps to deter speeding, erect sidewalk railings to deter snatch theft, and establish proper motorcycle lanes.
“We are doing all this to absorb these areas into our ongoing Safe City programme,” he added.
He also assured that DBKU will address other issues raised by the residents yesterday, including stagnant drains, abuse of a government property at Jalan Intan, and vehicles speeding through their neighbourhoods — especially during peak hours.