BU3 Area Committee chairman Lai Wing Fatt said there were six such establishments in the housing estate of 414 houses, worsening congestion and parking woes in the area.

“These are not small establishments, each has about 60 children. Sometimes residents cannot even reach their homes because of parents waiting in their cars to pick up their children,” he said, adding that the council had confirmed that three of the establishments were operating without a licence.

Lai said residents were already facing traffic congestion because of SJK(C) Puay Chai 2 for years and the increasing number of kindergartens and day-care centres was worsening the situation.

“BU3 is a popular location for these establishments because it is near a primary school and a shopping centre,” he said, adding that other sections in Bandar Utama are spared from the ordeal.

Lai said residents had been highlighting the issue since 2009 but to their dismay, three more kindergartens and day-care centres, wanted to come in recently.

One was halted due to objections, another is being built and the third was approved even though it is located near another kindergarten.

“We acknowledge that the council has held objection hearings on these applications but the MBPJ’s by-laws has a clause stating that there should not be more than two kindergartens or day-care centres in a housing estate,” he said.

Lai said in view of this, they should just turn down the applications and there was no need for an objection hearing

“Why are applications still being accepted?” he asked.

He said the person in charge in the council should be answerable for this.

He added that even though the government had called for more day-care centres to be set up to reduce dependency on foreign maids, they should be built in the right places and not inconvenience residents.

Resident S.H. Lim pointed out that houses should not be converted into commercial units because they were not built nor equipped with safety features, drawing reference to the bridal houses in SS2 Petaling Jaya that caught fire recently.

“These premises can be fire hazards, especially when there is no one to keep watch at night,” he said.

MBPJ councillor Chan Chee Kong said the council had issued notices to the unlicensed operators about two months ago instructing them to cease business.

He denied that there was a law limiting a housing estate to only two kindergartens but the council was acting against the proprietors on grounds that they were operating without a licence, and that conversion was carried out without approval.

“One of the operators had promised to relocate after the school term ends while others have filed an appeal.

“We have to give them time because it not a restaurant but a centre with children. We need to allow the parents to make adjustment to sudden changes,” he said.

“We have also held two objection hearings and two applications have been rejected.

“The issue stems from improper planning and we will look into it and freeze such establishments in BU3 until we find a better solution,” he added.