‘Khalid doesn’t have a people soul’

Sungai Buloh's nursery operators believe that Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim was merely trying to 'save face' by withholding the TOL to Yayasan Selangor.

PETALING JAYA: Sungai Buloh nursery operator, Mohd Noor Abdullah, is furious with Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and needs no prompting to launch into his tirade.

“Khalid needs to come down from his ivory tower and visit Sungai Buloh before making any decision involving the temporary occupation licence (TOL),” he said. “He needs to stop listening only to his people and start listening to the people who voted for him.”

“Khalid doesn’t have a people soul, he has a ‘sendirian berhad’ soul. How can he decide who deserves the TOLs when he has never even set foot here?”

“Here” is Green Lane, a stretch of Sungai Buloh occupied by over 50 nurseries that were recently denied TOLs by the State Legislative Assembly. The operators had submitted their applications for TOLs three years ago but on May 25 they were told that it was granted to Yayasan Selangor instead.

The nursery operators’ ensuing outrage culminated in a closed-door meeting with Khalid on Tuesday that ended with Khalid withholding the TOL from being issued to Yayasan Selangor.

Khalid also ordered engineers from both Yayasan Selangor and the nursery operators associations to conduct a study to ascertain whether the high water pressure pipes that run directly below the nurseries pose a security threat. The study’s findings will determine whether the nurseries need to be relocated.

Before Tuesday’s meeting the operators had received word that Khalid was expected to adopt a “softer stance” on the issue. But they now view this “softer stance” as Khalid’s way of “saving face to backtrack on a bad decision”. And they don’t trust him anymore.

“We have an assemblyman, Nasir Hashim, whom Khalid has kept in the dark over the TOL issue,” Noor claimed. “Since Nasir found out, he has been fighting hard for us. But if Khalid has no respect for our assemblyman then how can we trust him?”

‘We don’t want to move!’

Noor, 53, is among the pioneers of Green Lane and has spent the last 22 years building a business that has fed his family of nine. His nursery is now in the hands of his 17-year-old daughter who may not have a chance to carry it on.

“The younger generation wants to take over but there may be nothing left for them,” he said bitterly. “This is daylight robbery. And I don’t care what (Subang MP) Sivarasa (Rasiah) says. It is a land grab!”

Sivarasa had earlier asked the media to refrain from using the term “land grab” as no eviction was involved. But Noor argued that denying them the TOLs was akin to taking their land away.

“Why is the engineer being provided by Yayasan and not the state government?” Noor demanded. “What if the engineer says the land is unsafe? Yes Khalid guaranteed that he would find us an alternative location but we don’t want to move!”

“Our customers don’t want us to move. This is a convenient location. You know, PKR is worse than BN. At least the (former menteri besar) Khir Toyo listened and helped us out from time to time.”

Last Monday, a group of operators turned up at PKR’s headquarters in the hope of having an audience with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

They were instead directed to his chief of staff, Ibrahim Yaacob, who promised to study the issue and revert to them. Noor said he hasn’t heard anything from Ibrahim since.

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Landscaping and Nursery Operators Association president, Lee Chee Hong, said that none of the state executive councillors were willing to engage in talks with them.

“We’ve only met their personal assistants,” he said. “Ronnie Liu was the only one who visited and he told us that it was good for Yayasan to take over.”

“All of us are also confused over Khalid’s stand. He said the TOL has been approved but not awarded. Isn’t approval as good as awarding it? If a judge sentences a criminal to death but doesn’t fix a date, it doesn’t mean that the execution won’t take place.”

‘Leave nurseries alone’

But Petaling district officer, Zulkifli Yaacob, who also attended the closed-door session, had told FMT that there was still a chance that Yayasan may not end up getting the TOL.

Meanwhile, another operator, Thomas Varky, proposed that the state government leave the nurseries alone and establish a proper horticulture centre in Kota Damansara’s botanical garden.

“This strip of land is too narrow to build anything and only lightweight structures can sit over the pipes,” he said. “So Yayasan’s plans to build car parks and eateries are unrealistic and impossible.”

Lee said that the association is in the midst of selecting an engineer for the land study and is expected to make a decision by next week.

The engineers from both sides will spend a month studying the area before presenting their findings to Khalid who will then hold another meeting with the operators. Until then, the future of the nurseries hangs by on a slim thread.

“So now we hope for two things,” Noor said. “First, that the land is safe. And second, that Yayasan isn’t issued the TOL certification after all.”