RESIDENTS throwing rubbish down from their units is a daily affair at Penang’s Taman Manggis People’s Housing Project (PPR) flats.

The flats’ maintenance supervisor said rubbish thrown from the upper floors was a normal occurrence, but once in a while, larger objects would come crashing down.

The supervisor, who declined to be named, said  a piece of mortar and a big chunk from a broken water meter fell near him once.

“A few days before the incident in Kuala Lumpur, a drawer was thrown down. Someone missed it by two steps.”

On Monday, a chair was flung from the 21st floor of the Seri Pantai PPR flats in Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur, killing a schoolboy.

The victim, 14-year-old Satishwaran Sathiasilan, who was with his mother at the time of the incident, was killed instantly when the chair struck him on the head.

Shocked by the incident, the Penang government has ordered its Housing Department to “educate” public housing residents.

State housing exco Jagdeep Singh Deo said he had ordered the department to work with the Penang Women’s Development Corporation and conduct a workshop immediately to discuss ways to raise awareness among PPR residents in the state.

“It is a mentality issue that needs to be tackled through education, to help residents realise that what they do may endanger others,” he told a press conference in Taman Manggis today.

He said the department carried out constant monitoring, and had received reports and complaints from PPR residents.

He said the department issued 28 notices last year for violations such as obstructing common spaces and corridors, illegal extensions and renovations, littering, and other activities that posed a danger and caused disruption to other residents.

“The department encourages residents to report these matters and submit proof, like pictures and videos, when they encounter disturbances that can endanger them.

“We will investigate the reports. If there is a basis, we will take enforcement action, like confiscating things that cause obstruction.

“If the complaint involves crime, safety issues or building structures, we will contact the relevant authorities, like police or local councils.”

Jagdeep said programmes to educate residents on the importance of abiding by PPR housing regulations would be held at all PPR flats statewide.

According to the Penang Housing Department website, there are six PPR flats in the state.

The units, managed by the state government and local councils, are rented out to eligible poor families at affordable rates. – January 19, 2018.