The Klang Municipal Council's (MPK) decision to take legal action against a disabled motorist for parking offences has irked Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department M Kayveas.

He criticisied MPK as being "blind" in failing to acknowledge that the motorist was unable to comply with the parking bylaws.

"How could they enforce a rule when she has no way of obeying it in the first place?" asked an irate Kayveas, who is known for his scathing criticism of local councils.

He was responding to the widely reported plight of Gurdip Kaur @ Rina, 45, who was issued a notice dated March 30 by the council, stating that legal action would be initiated soon.

At a press conference organised by the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Gurdip said she had received 10 compound notices for failure to feed parking meters in August 2004, while she and other disabled individuals were in Klang to organise a charity event.

She claimed that she was unable to reach the parking meter because of her disability. She further claimed that she could not pay the compound fine either because the MPK building is not a disabled-friendly structure.

Rina, who is paralysed from the waist down because of a fall in 1993, sent a letter of appeal to MPK but did not receive any response.

A report in The Star yesterday said MPK has defended its actions and that the council will pursue the matter, although it is willing to offer Rina, a "discount".

'Emulate Selayang'

Kayveas urged local governments to modernised their mindset in tandem with increasing acceptance of individuals with specials needs.

He praised the Selayang Municipal Council for allocating more that 60 parking bays meant for disabled people.

"It is a very good sign. What Selayang did for people with special needs should be emulated," said Kayveas when contacted yesterday.

He said he hoped that the incident involving Gurdip would spur all local councils nationwide to think outside the box in creating a disabled-friendly neighbourhood.

Similarly, ILTC advisor Anthony Thanasayan pointed out that Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur - both of which have city status - are not sufficiently disabled friendly.