An artist‘s impression of the PJ Smart Centre to be built within MBPJ grounds.
A SMART centre will be set up within the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) grounds to give stakeholders better access to relevant information.
The PJ Smart Centre will contain data related to city planning and the information will be made available upon request, said MBPJ Town Planning director Sharipah Marhaini Syed Ali.
The smart centre is part of the council’s Smart PJ Project to become a sustainable city by 2030.
Under the project, over RM15mil has been allocated to boost 10 sectors: planning information, planning control, green city, safe city, community engagement, PJ Eye, transportation, digital publishing, complaints and waste management.
“The smart centre will be located within the grounds of MBPJ’s headquarters in Jalan Yong Shook Lin.
“The half-a-million ringgit structure will enable better public engagement through the availability of information such as crime hotspots and pothole-ridden areas,” said Sharipah.
Visitors to the PJ Smart Centre will be able to obtain up-to-date information on the city‘s crime hotspots or pothole-ridden roads.
“Reports on some of the council’s projects and their impact will also be showcased.
“At the moment, we do not have an integrated system whereby the public or stakeholders can access detailed information.
“We have the information in our geographical integrated system (GIS). Once our smart centre is ready, the information will be displayed,” said Sharipah.
She cited land use with detailed mapping through images captured by drones as an example of the type of information that would be available.
“Now, the reports are with the complaints department. If we have an integrated system, we can look at the bigger picture and come up with more effective long-term solutions,” Sharipah explained.
She said the council could work more effectively with third parties by having such information readily available.
“The public and private sectors can come together and plan suitable activities or projects when they understand the needs of certain areas better.”
MBPJ has introduced two categories for children and youth in the Petaling Jaya Sustainable Community Award 2017 to generate more ideas.
As for the development of integrated digitised systems, the council has allocated RM4.6mil to instal more closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTVs) with analytic features to enable higher definition video images.
Some RM8.7mil would be allocated for the upgrade of information and communications technology related systems under the Smart PJ Project, added Sharipah.
One of the key aspects of building a sustainable city is greater engagement with stakeholders, especially children and those below the age of 35.
Sharipah said the council wanted children and youths to have a greater say in projects affecting them.
“In many advanced countries, children are seen as a valuable asset in town planning,” she said, and elaborated that MBPJ had seen positive results based on previous engagements with children.
“The I-Play Park in Damansara Damai is a good example of this; some of the facilities were built based on ideas provided by children,” she said.
Realising the benefits of involving children and youths, the council has created two new categories for them in the Sustainable Community Award 2017.
The new categories are for children below 18 and youths between 19 and 35 years.
“We have allocated RM60,000 for winners under the children’s category and RM96,000 for the youths who showcase ideas that will benefit the PJ community,” said Sharipah.
