Stop-work order only for condo, says MBPJ

Petaling Jaya City Hall is not empowered to prevent Peter Brickworks from erecting barricades, according to councillor Latheefa Koya.

PETALING JAYA: The stop-work order that Petaling Jaya City Hall (MBPJ) issued against Peter Brickworks Sdn Bhd applies only to its construction of a condominium at PJS 1.

The order, MBPJ councillor Latheefa Koya said, did not empower City Hall to stop the developer from erecting barricades at the area where it demolished two homes last June 3.

“The developer can argue in court that they are just marking their territory,” said Latheefa.

On June 6, a committee representing residents of longhouses in the area complained that Peter Brickworks had started erecting barricades on the land where it had demolished the homes of two people named M Mahalingam and A Pushaparani.

The demolition was carried out by court order despite ongoing negotiations between the developer and the residents, City Hall and the state government.

The residents have refused to budge from the land, staying there in a makeshift tent.

Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, angry over the demolition, has instructed State Secretary Khusrin Munawi to acquire the land for the state.

Latheefa could not confirm whether the state had managed to take over the land.

“I have to check with Selangor state executive councillor Iskandar Abdul Samad,” she said. “However, land acquisition takes some time. We need to comply with certain regulations.”

Latheefa added that since the state had decided to the acquire the land, Peter Brickworks was no longer obliged to build low-cost flats for the PJS 1 residents.

“The state has to decide who will be building their flats before we can pursue the next course of action,” she said. “As far as providing alternative housing and free rental to the residents, MBPJ has no problems to meet the residents’ demands.”

The 27 families residing in the area had been waiting for Peter Brickworks to build the low-cost flats it promised in 2003.

After the developer had issued eviction notices to Mahalingam and Pushparani on May 23, they demanded that the state government and the developer provide them with alternative housing and free rental until their flats were built.

They wanted the promise in writing, but they told FMT this had not been done.