commnty

JuLy 15 — 17, 2011

issue 33

⁄ July 15 – 17, 2011

⁄

SELANGOR TIMES

commnty

July 15 — 17, 2011

issue 33

Moneyproblemsfor council

2nd state assembly sitting

4 & 5

competitive need for

10 & 11

New rules soonfor budget hotels

BUDGET ACCOMODATION: New regulations to govern budget hotels will be introduced soon to regulate the booming industry.

Basil Foo

sHaH alam:

A surge in budget hotels israising eyebrows, and authorities are laying down ground rules to ensure they don’t be-come prostitution dens.“We started draing guidelines because o an increase in applications over the past two years,” said Klang Municipal Council (MPK)acting president Mohd Ehsan Mukri.He said the move is to ensure that thebudget hotels do not end up as a catalyst orsocial ills.“Tey must install security cameras andonly oer hotel services. No spas,” said MohdEhsan when met at the state assembly on Wednesday.Other requirements include having proper registration counters, rental ratesnot exceeding RM150, and or these hotelsto be located at corner lots or better park-ing capacity.he drat was made during a meeting with representatives rom the 11 other localcouncils and the ourism Ministry twomonths ago.he guidelines are also aimed at curbing oversupply. “I we have too many hotels butnot enough demand, they (operators) willconvert [the hotels] intodierent kinds o busi-nesses. So we need tocontrol them,” MohdEhsan said.He added, however,that the guidelines are stillbeing fnalised and have yet to be approved by thestate.MPK has sent out invitations to the otherlocal councils or a second workshop, whererepresentatives rom all parties would meet to work on the guidelines.“MPK has been tasked with drawing upnew guidelines ... I oundeasible, it will be appliedto all 12 local authoritiesin the state,” said state ex-ecutive councillor RonnieLiu.Liu, whose portolioincludes local government,said the state evaluatedMPK’s proposed guidelines last month buthas asked the council to fnetune them.Budget hotels are currently regulated byby-laws under each local authority.Liu said he was unsure o the extent o im-moral activity at budget hotels, but the newguidelines will serve as a preventive measure.“Te local councils are conducting re-quent checks at budget hotels with the helpo the police and religious bodies,” he ex- plained.On uesday, Liu told the state assemblythat there are 138 budget hotels in Selangor.He said this in reply to a question romDatuk Marsum Paing (BN-Dengkil).Tere are seven registered budget hotels inShah Alam, 18 in Petaling Jaya, 17 in Klang,13 in Ampang Jaya, 13 in Subang Jaya, 20 inSelayang, 17 in Kajang, 3 in Sepang, 19 inKuala Selangor, 10 in Kuala Langat, and onein Sabak Bernam.