Council sued over ‘illegal buildings’
The Star 2/12/2006 BY CHELSEA L.Y. NG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) has been sued for allowing commercial properties, including a hotel, to be built on several plots of agriculture land without plans.

Divorcee Wan Khairani Mahmood, who took the council to court, wants a mandamus order compelling MPS to demolish those structures.

The Shah Alam High Court has fixed Jan 31 to decide on the application.

Wan Khairani, 66, claimed that her ex-husband Ismail Mohamad and Sri Alam Sdn Bhd, of which he is a director, had built those buildings on the agricultural land without approval.

She said the seven premises, located in Jalan Gombak, Sentul and Setapak, did not have any Certificates of Fitness and therefore, ought to be demolished or prevented from being occupied by anyone.

In her affidavit supporting the application, Wan Khairani claimed that she was seeking the mandamus order against the council because she wanted to ensure that the properties were free from legal entanglement.

She said that the landslide tragedy which hit a bungalow in Ampang killing several people a few years ago had reminded her of the danger of occupying such buildings.

She said she had given notice to tenants to move out from six of the houses in Kampung Baru Setapak in the interest of their safety.

She said she owned half of the alleged illegally erected structures by the order of the Syariah Court after her divorce.

Apart from the mandamus order, Wan Khairani is also seeking an injunction to stop further development on the land.

Ismail claimed that she had no locus standi to seek the injunction as she did not own the land.

MPS secretary Abdullah Marjunid, 50, in an affidavit-in-reply contended that the premises were built prior to 1997 when the land was not within the municipality yet.

He said that efforts had been made to subsequently convert the land status from agricultural to building land.

Two parties, namely, Sri Alam and Koperasi Belia Islam (M) Bhd, are interveners in the proceedings.

Koperasi Belia Islam is a tenant of a building in Jalan Gombak. It had since sub let part of the premises to nine other tenants.

The interveners claimed that the mandamus order, if granted, would prejudice them and cause them to suffer losses.