Petaling Jaya city council (MBPJ) landscape department director Zuraidah Sainan has refuted claims that her department made payments for incomplete and substandard work.

"These are mere accusations. Otherwise, you would be furnished with hard evidence," she said when contacted last week.

She was asked about a letter, dated June 24 2009, which was addressed to Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, which claimed that a certain contractor had received payments for ‘projects that did not exist'.

The one-page letter listed seven landscape contractors with MBPJ who all received payments of RM200,000 to RM1 million each.

The contracts were for pruning of trees and other landscape work in six state assembly areas as well as a park in Section 22.

Also listed in the letter is the number of bidders in the open tender for each project, and the time frame in which the work should be completed.

The MB's office confirmed receipt of the letter by fax on Thursday.

"We have nothing to hide"

Zuraidah said that there is nothing in the document that points to any corrupt conduct by MPBJ.

"All the documents can be checked, we have nothing to hide," she said, explaining that they have in their records all contracts, work progress reports and payments made.

She added that all the payments were made in accordance to approved allocations, which is between RM200,000 to RM250,000 for two years.

"The payments are made according to the work that needs to be done. Be it to chop down a tree or to plant a new one, we have records on all this.

"The contractors cannot just demand for payment at his or her own will. So please give me evidence to show that we are wrong," she said.

She added that the accusations, which is just one of many that she has received, may have been meted out by her ‘many enemies', either among contractors or her own staff.

A visit to several of the marked areas proved that work had been completed by the contractors, albeit some rather shoddily.

NONE Taman Aman in Section 14 was found to be well-maintained, with workers trimming the grass and clearing rubbish away from the park.

"I come here twice or thrice a week, and they are always at work," said resident and park-user, J Sanjay.

However, he noted that the number of workers have decreased from 10 when the park was maintained by Al Huda Bina Resources, to about five now.

In contrast, trees at PJU 4 and PJU 5 were badly maintained, with several trees uprooted.

Shrubs and bushes, planted as part of the landscaping, including grass, were also in shabby condition, as were the ones around Jalan PJU 8 heading to Flora Damansara.

A trader in the area said the contractor responsible for the area rarely took notice of the trees there.

"I have operated my business here for about a month now and I have only seen work being done once, and that was just to cut the grass.

"Nothing was done about the trees, But they need to be pruned because they are making the already badly-lit pathway so dark that people are scared to walk here," he said,

The trees come under the responsibility of Etika Dinamik Enterprise.

The trader, who is also a resident there, said the roads were also of bad quality with potholes found despite repairs being done a week ago.

When queried on this, Zuraidah said that this was because MBPJ has yet to allocate the area to a contractor.

"Maintenance is the responsibility of the developers until they have finished all their work in the area until passing it over to MPBJ," she said.

She however urged residents to make complaints in the case of uprooted trees, adding that MPBJ is "famous" for acting quickly on such complaints.