Recently the Sibu Municipal Council issued a warning that stern action would be taken against motorcyclists who park their vehicles at five-foot ways in front of shophouses starting next January 1 next year.
While SMC should be lauded for planning to take action against motorcyclists obstructing the walkway in front of the shops, the grace period until next January it granted to them seems to suggest that it is legal to park motorcycles along five-foot ways till the end of this year.
This is of course not the case as the five-foot ways have always been meant for pedestrians only and should not be obstructed in anyway.
However, many local councils throughout the state have found it almost impossible to enforce this law which has been flouted with impunity all this while.
Such is the council’s impotence in bringing those who obstruct five-foot ways to book many of these public walkways have become parking spaces for motorcycles and even extensions of shops.
SMC had done a good job in clearing the five-foot ways and it seems their main problem now is the motorcyclists who it seems think it is their right to park their vehicles there.
The extent of this disregard for the law is reflected in the council’s decision to give a grace period for the motorcyclists to get used to not being able to park at five-foot ways.
As the saying goes people could be wrong so long they think they are right and so SMC has taken a wise step in giving that warning period before clamping down on the illegal motorcycle parking.
If SMC could get those motorcycles off the five-foot way then the council could set an example for other councils to follow.
However, motorcyclists are not the only culprits in blocking five foot ways as some car drivers are even more brazen in parking on the five foot way.
In Kuching it is not uncommon to see some car drivers parking their cars across the five-foot way entirely blocking the path to avoid paying parking fees.
The city councils seem to be hapless in hauling up these selfish drivers as they have been getting away with this blatant illegal parking.
Then there is that ‘booking’ of parking spaces in the city by shopkeepers and other business owners.
They would usually place a stool, rubbish bin or wooden box in a parking bay preventing other motorists from using the space.
Irate motorists have complained umpteenth times to the authorities over this illegal ‘booking’ of parking to no avail.
The situation was so exasperating in the heart of Kuching that recently a council member took it upon himself to take photographs of the boxes, bins and chairs placed in parking bays for the media.
It was a desperate attempt to solve this problem but nothing came out of it, the obstacles in the parking spaces are still there.
Then there are the eternal problems of illegal parking along the streets and improper parking.
Many drivers thought nothing of depriving other motorists of parking spaces by occupying two spaces through their improper parking.
Nobody has been hauled up for this selfish parking although they infringed traffic regulations.
This situation cannot be left to fester as the traffic flow in town and city centres would eventually deteriorated to total chaos without any rectification.
The inability of local councils impose their regulations has embolden those who flout the laws as impotence breeds contempt.