The Star, Tuesday May 1, 2012

Licence renewal put on hold

THREE karaoke outlets are facing opposition from residents and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in renewing their licences.

Two outlets are at Reko Sentral, Kajang, and the other is at Carrefour in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, Cheras.

The licences for the Reko Sentral outlets will expire on June 30 while the one in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn expired in December last year.

The applications from three outlets to renew their licences were discussed at the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) full board meeting yesterday.

Councillor Lee Learn Eng said the outlets were not allowed to operate in Reko Sentral because it was not an entertainment zone.

On the other hand, Carrefour is located within an entertainment zone but the residents committee (JKP) and surau objected to its operations.

The councillors were asked to decide if the council should make a decision on the cases or refer them to the state government.

MPKj president Datuk Hasan Nawawi Abd Rahman said the residents and NGOs were worried about vice activities at the karaoke outlets.

He said the council’s Licensing Committee would meet on May 21 to discuss the matter.

“If a decision still cannot be made, the cases will be referred to the state government,” he said.

He added that Sungai Chua, Sungai Long, Bandar Kajang and Semenyih Sentral were entertainment zones.

Another issue debated was related to political party flags that have been put up in the municipality.

Councillor Mohd Sany Hamzan was against the idea of removing them.

Kajang assemblyman Lee Kim Sin, who was also present at the meeting, said party flags were often put up when party activities were held.

He suggested the council emulate the system in Taiwan which only allowed the party flags to be displayed within a certain distance from the venues, and at strategic junctions to show the direction.

“The organiser must take down the flags within 24 hours after the event or risk having their deposit forfeited,” he said.

Hasan said the Licensing Committee would have to work out the details.

“If we follow the rules strictly, it is wrong to put up party flags during non-election period.

“Normally, we have the option to issue notices to those responsible and request them to remove the party flags.

“If they do not, we will do so and bill them for it,” he said.