INADEQUATE SPACE: Haphazard parking adds to congestion in Pulau Tikus
GEORGE TOWN: Breaking the law and taking risks are daily affairs in Pulau Tikus. For those who work there or have business to attend to, parking illegally seems to be the only option.
Pulau Tikus, as many locals know, is one of the most jammed up areas in the city, both on work days due to office workers, and during the weekends, due to shoppers.
Apart from the existing roads being not wide enough to accommodate today's traffic volume, the other major contributing factor is the lack of parking space, which has led motorists to leave their vehicles indiscriminately.
Recently at a forum on land reclamation and its impact, Penang Traffic Council member Loh Swee Heong said illegal parking was a big problem in Penang, which needed to be looked into by the local authorities and the police.
Penangites, he said, would rather park illegally than to park properly in a council parking lot with meters.
"If the time runs out and people fail to put more coins into the meter in time, they are likely to get a fine.
"But if they park illegally, they are less likely to get a fine. That is why many people rather take the risk," he said.
For many office workers in Pulau Tikus, parking illegally is not a matter of choice. There is simply no other option.
Annie Yeap, 39, whose office is at Jalan Jones off Jalan Burmah, said times have changed since many residential units in the area had been converted into offices.
Some 10 years ago, parking in Jalan Jones was not a problem at all as most of the double-storey terrace units were still private homes, she said.
All that has changed with almost every unit there operating as offices with staff members and clients who travel in their own cars, she said.
"When we have a multi-storey car park big enough to cater to motorists, then we might be able to solve the parking problem which also worsens the traffic congestion.
"Until then, I do not think we can just tell people to stop parking illegally in Pulau Tikus... in many cases, they are forced to," she said.
At Jalan Jones, workers and clients sometimes have to double-park and block each others' cars outside the offices.
Yeap said office workers there had so far been fortunate that double yellow lines were not drawn in Jalan Jones and the council's enforcement officers had not clamped the vehicles.
She said if clamping was implemented in Jalan Jones, motorists would not know where to park their cars.
"Some of the people here are forced to park their cars at the nearby Burmese temple's car park, which is actually meant for visitors and devotees," she said, adding that food outlets that operate near junctions in Pulau Tikus also contributed to the illegal parking mayhem.
An office worker in Pulau Tikus, who wished to be known only as Lum, 29, said solving the parking and traffic woes in Penang was a very difficult task.
He said many roads in George Town could no longer be widened to improve traffic flow and the public still viewed the services of public buses with some scepticism.
"Penangites are too used to driving everywhere. Commuting to office by bus to many people is not very convenient," he said.
When contacted, Penang Island Municipal councillor Teh Lai Heng said even in Pulau Tikus, there were several multi-storey private car parks available. Motorists can park a little further away from their destination.
Another way, he said, would be to car pool.
"It would be quite a challenge to build new multistorey car parks due to land constraints," he said.
Teh added that the council was considering a long-term solution like special bus lanes.
By improving the efficiency of buses, office workers may prefer to commute by public transport.
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