Short-term solution for lift problem

RESIDENTS in Flora Damansara who have been forced to endure faulty lift problems will soon get a reprieve after their elected representative stepped in to help.

Damansara MP Gobind Singh Deo has pledged RM12,000 as part of the deposit to repair the lifts at the medium-cost apartment located in Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya.

The contribution by Gobind, who visited the apartments on Saturday, will go towards expediting the lifts’ repair works.

There are 2,541 apartments in Flora Damansara, with over 9,000 residents.

Following a complaint lodged by a resident, Gobind said the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Selangor held an inspection and condemned most of the apartment lifts on Aug 25 as they were found to be unsafe.

A Flora Damansara building management spokesperson said 14 lifts should be in operation but 10 were condemned by DOSH.

“The cost to repair these lifts is expensive. It is estimated to be over RM340,000.

“The contractors have agreed to first repair two lifts at each block, at a total estimated cost of RM173,000. To get the repairs done, a deposit of at least 30% of the total estimated cost is needed, which means a deposit of over RM50,000 is required,” said the spokesman.

He said the building management was able to fork out RM40,000, while Gobind’s office agreed to cover the balance for the deposit.

Gobind said the immediate priority was to have more than one lift operating at the same time at each block.

“The repairs have to be done immediately as the matter is a serious one,” he said adding that the funds would come from his parliamentary budget.

“There are four blocks of apartments here, each with 25 floors. Three of the blocks have five lifts each while one has four lifts. At the moment, each of these blocks only has one lift that is operational.

“Both DOSH and the contractors have been helpful so far. The lifts are being inspected and those with minimal problems will be repaired first.

“We hope to have at least two lifts at each block in operation by Monday (today) after they are reinspected by DOSH.”

Gobind having a closer look at one of the faulty lifts with Syamsul.

Gobind said the long-term problem must be addressed too.

“The residents here can’t pay upfront for the entire cost of repairs. We have to work out an instalment plan with the contractor while the repair work goes on.”

Flora Damansara Joint Management Body chairman Syamsul Razman Muhammad said residents had to queue for up to half an hour to have their turn to enter a lift, while the majority were taking the stairs for the 25 floors in each block.

“We have an issue with the payment of maintenance fees by residents. We can only collect about 60% of the monthly maintenance fees. The fee ranges between RM100 and RM114 per unit per month.

“Due to the lack of funds for maintenance fees, the lifts have not been serviced as regularly as they should be,” he said.

Long-time resident Kamsiah Khalid, 35, lives with her husband, three young children and an elderly father.

She, her children and her husband will use the stairs to climb 15 floors daily.

“My father can’t climb the stairs so he will wait for the lift. It takes about 30 minutes for his turn each time,” said Kamsiah.

“We expect the queue to be worse when schools reopen, especially at night after working hours.”

Another resident Sharon Lim, 48, said she and her husband would place all their necessary items in the car after midnight when the queue for the lifts is shorter.

They would then walk down the stairs from their 10th floor apartment unit come morning.

“We came to know that the lifts were not properly maintained when someone lodged a report. And now we have a serious problem of putting up with faulty lifts,” said Lim.