KUCHING, August 4: Despite being warned by the local council recently not to shortchange customers, a private car park operator in the vicinity of Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) is up to no good again.
They have reverted to their old “tricks” of reducing the claimable period for parking fees from the council-approved four hours to a mere one hour.
Parking at this private car park cost RM5 per entry, but if motorists return within four hours, they would be able to get back RM2, meaning parking for four hours costs only RM3. But now the operator has reduced the four hours to one hour, despite warning from the local council.
A teacher found this out when she sent a relative to SGH’s A&E Unit at about 5.30am today. When she went to collect her car at about 7.45am, the parking attendant refused to pay her back RM2 by saying, “You can claim back (RM2) only if you park for not more than one hour.”
On July 18 this year, a Kuching resident had complained to DayakDaily over the same issue. The parking attendant told the Kuching resident that if she parked for more than one hour, she would not be able to claim the RM2.
When asked for the reason, the parking attendant replied, “Cos there is no more GST”.
Before the goods and services tax (GST) was zero-rated effective June 1, parking at this parking lot cost RM5.30, inclusive of RM0.30 GST. Starting June 1, the parking was reduced to RM5 but the claimable period was reduced to one hour.
“This means parking at this private car park cost RM5 because it is almost impossible to go through an appointment at SGH within one hour, what with the huge number of patients daily,” the teacher opined.
The teacher hoped the local council will take action against this errant car park operator, or better still revoke his operating licence. — DayakDaily
