DBKL To Rope In Scrap Dealers To Tackle Abandoned Car Surge

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is considering handing over the removal and disposal of abandoned vehicles to licensed scrap dealers, as its depots buckle under thousands of derelict cars and public parking spaces continue to disappear.

The council currently operates three depots in Taman Connaught, Salak Selatan and Pantai Sentral which are jammed with about 3,700 vehicles.

Space has become so tight that cars are now being stacked on top of one another. Despite pouring millions into towing operations each year, DBKL only makes back around RM300,000 through annual auctions.

A major stumbling block is the legal red tape. 

Clearing a single car can drag on for more than half a year, as DBKL must issue repeated notices, verify ownership with the Road Transport Department (JPJ), and then wait months before its one annual auction, which disposes of only 500 to 1,000 vehicles at a time.

Under the proposed outsourcing deal, scrap metal dealers would be authorised to handle towing and legal disposal. 

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok’s aide, Alice Lan, said talks are underway, while Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng backed the idea but stressed that DBKL must adopt clear, transparent systems similar to Singapore and Japan.

“Outsourcing the disposal of abandoned cars is a good idea as it will free up DBKL’s enforcement officers to focus on other pressing issues.

“But it must be structured in a way that benefits the city,” he said. The abandoned vehicle problem has become a citywide nuisance. DBKL has logged over 4,500 complaints in the Federal Territories, with the bulk coming from Kuala Lumpur.  In PPR flats like Kampung Muhibbah and Sri Aman, residents say parking bays are filled with broken-down cars that attract pests and often double as rubbish dumps.

The issue isn’t limited to public housing. Residents in commercial districts and private condominiums report the same problem, made worse by what they describe as sluggish enforcement. To ease the pressure, DBKL is also exploring other measures such as cash incentives for voluntary vehicle disposal and pushing for wider adoption of JPJ’s e-Dereg online deregistration system.

Source: The Star.