Defying orders from city authority

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The receipt that all users of the private car park are issued upon payment of RM5.

Car park operator near SGH continues to ignore DBKU’s warnings over exorbitant fees

KUCHING: Despite numerous warnings from Kuching North City Commission (DBKU), the private car park located opposite the main entrance of Sarawak General Hospital is still charging motorists RM5 per entry.

Following a public complaint, The Borneo Post went down to check and true enough a woman manning the car park asked for RM5 upon entry.

“There is no difference if you are parking for two hours or the whole day. Every entry is RM5. If you want reimbursement of RM2 for parking less than two hours, you have to park a bit further up there.

“The man manning the booth will give you back RM2 if you park less than two hours. I have no right to give you RM2 reimbursement,” the woman explained.

However, the receipt she issued to The Borneo Post reporter did not state the time of entry, so one wonders how the ‘man’ would agree to a RM2 reimbursement.

There is no signboard explaining to car park patrons about the fee structure, including the possibility of requesting for a reimbursement. The only signboard available is placed near the entrance booth, but it merely screams ‘Private car park, RM5’.

A member of the public, Abang Muis from Sebuyau, had parked there yesterday for about half an hour to pick up medicine for his wife, and he was charged RM5.

“We came from so far away and we have to pay so much just to park there. This is too much. For short parking of less than two hours, the fee should not be more than RM3.

“For those who park the whole day, perhaps RM5 is okay,” he said, adding that he parked there from 2.28pm to 2.55pm.

Meanwhile, DBKU commission member Dato Wee Hong Seng, when contacted, said the last parking fee agreed upon between the operator and DBKU was RM3 for those parking less than four hours, and RM5 for full-day parking.

“DBKU is very serious about this matter, and we will solve it. Two warning letters have been sent and if they continue to overcharge we will issue the third letter. Once the third issue is out, we are not going to look back anymore,” he cautioned.

Wee disclosed that following many complaints recently, he called the operator yesterday and insisted they erect signboards at every entry points and the signboards must state the fee structure, which is RM3 for less than four hours and RM5 for full day parking.

“I have just talked to the operator and he has promised to erect these signboards at every entry points by Tuesday.”

Prior to charging RM5 per entry, the operator was charging RM6.36 per entry.

However, those who had parked for less than two hours could get back RM2 from the man manning the booth, but that is if they had managed to get him to scribble the time of entry when they first entered the carpark.

The extra 36 sen was claimed by the operator as ‘sales tax’.

When DBKU intervened, the fee was reduced to RM5 and the sales tax was no longer included as the operator never applied for a permit to impose sales tax.