File photo showing cars parked in a parking lot.

KUCHING: Kuching South City Council (MBKS) and Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) will resume the collection of parking fees within their jurisdictions soon.

Both MBKS Mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng and DBKU Datuk Bandar Datu Junaidi Reduan, who confirmed this today, said that parking fees would be charged again the latest by early next week.

They said both councils were in the midst of finalising the standard operating procedures (SOP) for Kuching City Parking System (KCPS) to resume the collection of parking fees during this Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

“We have discussed with DBKU and after the SOP is done, we will send a notification to SDMC (Sarawak Disaster Management Committee) and resume the parking coupon system,” Wee told The Borneo Post here.

According to the MBKS Mayor, the resumption of collection of parking fees may begin earliest by later this week and the latest by early next week.

Both the mayors assured the community here that official notices would be issued to inform all prior to the resumption of parking fee collection.

Also contacted, Junaidi said the Local Government and Housing Ministry had given confirmation to MBKS and DBKU to start collecting parking fees during the CMCO period, which has been extended until June 9.

He said both DBKU and MBKS had outsourced the service to KCPS, which had been instructed to resume collecting parking fees soon.

“We have instructed them (KCPS) to start collecting soon. We are preparing a letter on SOP to them,” he added.

Junaidi said they could not be certain how soon the collection of parking fees would resume, but most probably early next week.

Both MBKS and DBKU have been offering free parking to motorists since March 20, two days after the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced to curb the spread of Covid-19.