USJ Heights residents living in fear despite paying for security facilities

PETALING JAYA (Sept 6): One would assume families can leave their homes confidently or sleep soundly if they live within a gated-and guarded development but that does not seem to be the case for those at USJ Heights in Subang Jaya.

According to a report by the metro segment of The Star daily, six houses in the community were burgled in a span of just five months.

Three houses were broken into in a single night in early 2016, according to the same report.

And all this happened even with “state-of-the-art” security equipment such as QR code registration for visitors, cameras at strategic locations, electric/perimeter fencing and round-the-clock security surveillance.

Two of the latest victims who spoke to The Star said they were shocked that the presence of two foreign-made cars in their community were not noticed by anybody for more than an hour during one of the break-in incidents on July 29.

They later questioned the security guards who revealed that two continental cars that do not belong to the community passed through the residents’ lane at the entrance.

“We believe one car used a transponder while the second car tailgated the first. It is amazing how the security guards did not find anything amiss with their behaviour,” said a victim named Lai, reported The Star.

Another victim named Sheila told the daily she left her house at 7pm to pick up her maid from the KL International Airport and returned at 10.15pm after dinner and found the robbers had taken all her jewellery, opened the safe and disengaged her Astro decoder and CCTV camera recorder.

“I managed to obtain CCTV footage from my neighbours since my main cameras were not working. The thieves looked like Caucasians or Latin Americans. They were tall and looked very relaxed,” she told the English daily.

Sheila said another CCTV footage showed the burglars walking “coolly” back to a black BMW.

The Star also reported that residents are upset that most of the community’s security features do not work – these include the CCTV at the front gate, the Centralised Monitoring System and the intercom that is connected to the guard post.

The security facilities and services were provided by the developer as “part and parcel of the sale of the houses in USJ Heights”.

The residents are also unhappy that the security guards and the developer are lax about their concerns over the crimes.

A spokesman for Sime Darby USJ Development Sdn Bhd told The Star that the company handed over the CCTV cameras and the electrical perimeter fence system in USJ Heights to the USJ Heights Residents Association (USJHRA) on July 31 last year.

“The security system was in good working order at the time of handover, and as agreed, will be maintained by the USJHRA accordingly.

“In fact, maintenance of the security services were extended from Oct 30, 2014 to July 31, 2017 without any extra charges to ensure it was in good working condition prior to the handover,” said the spokesman.