Mansor (right, in blue) showing one of the illegal gates set up at Jalan Balau in Taman Rinting.

JOHOR BARU: For the past two years, many residents in Taman Rinting here had been denied entry into their own residential area by security guards manning the guard post whenever they return home past 9pm.

Frustrated and no longer able to tolerate the inconvenience, a group of the residents staying in Jalan Balau 4, Jalan Balau 5 and Jalan Balau 6 took it upon themselves to demolish the structures surrounding the residential area so that they can enter freely.

Project manager Asrafudin Ahmad, 59, was among those who were upset that the security guards would question him when entering the area after 9pm, despite being a resident there for the past 19 years.

“Sometimes I come home late from work and it is very annoying that I still have to prove to the guard that I am a resident here. I have had enough of being denied entry into my own residential area,” he said recently.

Asrafudin said he and another 24 residents had previously met with the Pasir Gudang Municipal Council (MPPG) about the matter and on May 30, the council told them that the structure was set up without its approval.

In the letter issued by former MPPG president Md Za’nal Misran, it was stated that the installation of the structure was not in accordance with the Gated and Guarded Neighbourhood guidelines that was published by the Peninsular Malaysia Town and Country Planning Department.

Another resident, Mansor Isa, 53, said he did not agree to the structure and guard post to be set up and those who agreed to it from the start had to pay a fee of RM70 monthly.

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“I was informed that those who disagreed with the set up did not have to pay the fees but the security guards kept coming to my house almost daily to ask for the payment,” he said.

Mansor added that since the structures were put up, some of the places within his housing area were filled with uncollected rubbish, as garbage trucks were unable to enter.

When contacted, an MPPG spokesperson said although the structures were initially installed without the council’s approval, the residents had no right to demolish them.

“They should have waited for the authorities to carry out such actions.

“MPPG will visit the area and carry out an investigation into the matter soon,” he said.