Pakatan to mobilise KLites against DBKL hike Pakatan MPs have set in motion a campaign to fight the steep hike in assessment fees imposed on the cikty folk by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar noted that many KL residents have received their proposed assessment hike from DBKL but are not aware on how to file objections and Pakatan MPs will help organise and assist them. We are going all out. Some people are lost as to what to do because this is the first hike in 21 years and only now has it become relevant to counter-argue against DBKL, Nurul Izzah told a press conference in the Parliament lobby today. NONEShe said Pakatan has prepared a standard template for residents to file appeals against their assessment hike and will be distributing these to the residents, as well as to residents associations. The forms would also be uploaded on her website. The appeals must be submitted to DBKL before the Decr 17 deadline set by the local authority. Nurul Izzah said the fact that there has been no hike in assessment tax for the last 21 years is no excuse for a such a sudden and steep increase. NONEIt should be done gradually. A 100 to 300 percent hike is unacceptable, she said. Furthermore, she said, DBKL had in the past years managed to increase its revenue despite not implementing any hike in the assessment fee. The increase will burden the people and landlords will use it as an opportunity to increase rent. This contradicts with the federal governments policy of wanting to provide affordable housing, she said. Nurul Izzah said she hoped an organised objection against the assessment fee increase would help get DBKL to reconsider its decision and put the needs of the people first. Meeting turns into mini-protest rally Meanwhile, DAPs Seputeh MP Teresa Kok also said she, too, had witnessed overwhelming protest in KL. “I held a press conference on opposition to the DBKL assessment hike with some resident associations heads at Sri Petaling this morning. “More than 200 residents were waiting for me at the coffee shop and it soon turned into a mini-protest rally against the assessment hike,” Kok said. She said Section 142 of the Local Government Act states: “Any person aggrieved on the ground that his property is valued beyond his rateable value can make an objection to DBKL.” But instead of rabble-rousing, Kok said, she wants Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to maintain the rise in assessments, since this has not been revised for over two decades, but to reduce the tax rate to three percent from six percent. “At a time when life is getting more difficult for city folk, there is no justified reason for such a high increase in the assessment rate,” she added. malaysiakini/news/246884
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 03:58:12 +0000
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