NUSAJAYA: THE continuous operations by the authorities to remove buntings and advertisements for illegal moneylenders, or Ah Longs, have failed to deter them from advertising their services to the public.
Nusajaya deputy police chief Deputy Superintendent Razak Md Said said that police, in collaboration with the Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT), had conducted 49 operations to remove the buntings and advertisements this year.
“The Ah Long are a determined and brazen bunch. As soon as we take down the buntings and posters, they put them up again, mostly in the same location and on the same day,” said Razak.
He said the most effective way to discourage them was for the public to realise the dangers of borrowing money from illegal moneylenders and stop using their services.
Razak said, that so far this year, 5,416 buntings and posters had been removed and 95 stickers and 19 name cards were confiscated.
“We have also opened 15 investigation papers under Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act and arrested five men, who have been charged under the Act,” Razak said after leading an operation to remove buntings and posters in Taman Bukit Indah.
Some 14 police and MPJBT personnel were involved in the operation.
“We urge the public to contact us if they see anyone putting up buntings and posters of this kind so that we can take action against them,” said Razak.
MPJBT senior enforcement officer Ab Halim Mohd Sulaiman said the council was conducting three operations a week to remove the buntings.
“We would remove up to 800 buntings and posters each time we conduct an operation but they (Ah Long) continue to put them up.
“We have also asked the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission to block the telephone numbers used by these Ah Long,” Halim said.
He said Taman Bukit Indah, Taman Nusa Bestari and Gelang Patah were among the areas where Ah Long rampantly advertised their services.