THE Selangor government will hand over small plots of reserve land to the Petaling Jaya City Council to be turned into parking lots.

These sites are mainly TNB reserve land and the council hopes to turn them into parking bays early next year.

“We will first have to get the Petaling District Land Office approval before converting the land for parking,” council deputy president Puasa Md Taib said yesterday.

The construction of car parks would not affect residents living around the area, he said when asked about the limited parking behind the Taman Bahagia light rail transit (LRT) station, which has incurred the wrath of residents living behind the station.

Cars are parked behind single- storey houses and along the roadsides leading to the SS4 neighbourhood and the station when the parking lot is full.

Councillor Cynthia Gabriel, who sits on the taskforce committee for parking, said the problem in the SS4 housing area is under surveillance and motorists parking near the houses are issued compounds.

“For the long-term solution, we are looking at the TNB reserve land for more parking space. Discussions on this are in progress,” said Gabriel, who is in charge of zone PJU1, SS 25 & SS 4.

The type of parking bay for the area has not been decided, but it will not be a multi-storey park. There are also some engineering issues to be resolved because of a huge drain running in the middle of the reserve land, and cost would be a major factor.

All Petaling Jaya Residents’ Association chairman Liew Wei Beng said the city council should ensure the carpark is closer to the commercial zone, not the residential area.

He said the city council should encourage the LRT operator and companies in the commercial zone to pay for a covered walkway from the carpark as part of their corporate social responsibility.

The LRT operator must also install lights as a security measure. After all, this is for the convenience of commuters,” said Liew, adding that with more parking bays, more people would use the LRT.