Apply online to do your renovations
19/01/2007 NST By Minderjeet Kaur

KUALA LUMPUR: You want to renovate your kitchen but don’t have the time to face the hassle of queuing up at City Hall, filling up numerous forms and going through endless red tape.

Well, you don’t have to do all that any more as City Hall has introduced the first ever e-application called the Building Control System.

With the new system, a click of the mouse will enable a house owner or a contractor to fill in online forms and submit them to the local authority.

Federal Territories Minister Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique said the house owner or contractor can then keep track of the application online.

"They no longer have to come to City Hall to check on the status of their applications," he said after launching the system here yesterday.

He said the processing time for each application would be reduced by half as house owners would know the results online within a month.

He urged other local authorities to use the system as it helped to reduce red tape and improve the delivery system within the local authority.

The system, which cost RM6 million, will also benefit contractors and developers who could keep track of their applications online.

At present, City Hall receives about 5,000 applications from house owners to renovate their homes.

"The system can accommodate more requests as there will be consistency in the processing method. The staff do not waste time looking for the files," Zulhasnan said.

Furthermore, the system will also help the local authority to monitor critical areas such as slopes in the Federal Territory.

"Instead of the conventional way of looking at the map, staff can now look at the areas via the portal which also has 3D images," he said.

Users could also log on to the portal for an interactive map of Kuala Lumpur.

The portal will also have the development plans of the local authority, data collection via satellite image, 3D data and aerial pictures which will enable environment analysis.

It will also provide hands-on training for the staff.

"It will help City Hall to organise its filing system. Applications will be downloaded into the system which will reduce storage space," he said.

Above all, he added it will increase public participation as they would be able to give their feedback online.

The portal could be accessed at jprb.dbkl.gov.my.