Sungai Buloh TOL put on hold

Yayasan Selangor will not be issued TOL until the controversy is resolved, according to Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government has decided not to issue temporary occupation licence (TOL) to Yayasan Selangor for the land in Sungai Buloh on which 100 nurseries operate.

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said that the state-owned agency has not received the TOL although the State Legislative Assembly has approved its application for the TOL in April.

The land controversy began when the nursery operators were informed on May 25 that their applications for TOL had been rejected in favour of Yayasan Selangor.

The operators protested that they should rightfully be granted the TOL as they had been developing the land all this while. They also questioned Yayasan Selangor’s involvement in horticulture as it is primarily an education arm.

Yayasan Selangor yesterday presented its development plan for a Green Park in the area to a group of nursery operators who shot it down.

But in a twist of events during a closed-door session with representatives from the two nursery operators’ associations today, Khalid said that the TOL had not been issued yet.

He added that the TOL would not be given until the controversy is resolved.

FMT also understands that the approval of the application did not guarantee that Yayasan Selangor would end up being awarded the TOL.

When told about Yayasan Selangor’s presentation, Khalid reportedly said, “I’m not interested in that. Those are only plans and Yayasan Selangor is not authorised to carry out any development projects in that area.”

Others who attended the meeting included Kota Damansara assemblyman Nasir Hashim, Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, Yayasan Selangor’s general manager Ilham Marzuki and Petaling Jaya mayor, Roslan Sakiman.

Field study

The nursery operators were represented by the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Landscaping and Nursery Operators Association president, Lee Chee Hong, and the Association of Landscape and Nursery Subang president, Sunny Low.

Khalid also addressed safety concerns posed by two huge underground pipes which were constructed in 2001 and which sit directly below the piece of land.

“The menteri besar has instructed a team of engineers from Yayasan Selangor and the nursery operators to conduct a study of these pipes over the next month,” Sivarasa told reporters. “We will then hold another meeting with him to discuss the findings.”

“Two possible scenarios could result from this study. The first is that the land is declared unsafe and the operators are moved to another plot of land within Sungai Buloh. The menteri besar has guaranteed that an alternative plot will be made available to them.”

“The other scenario is that the land is safe. Then we will decide how to monitor the safety of the land and who should be tasked with that responsibility.”

Nasir said that the operators were satisfied with Khalid’s explanation and would cooperate in conducting the field study.

“The only thing they are not happy about is Yayasan Selangor behaving like it already owns the land and the shabby treatment it gave the operators during yesterday’s presentation,” he said.

Nursery operator, Mahyuddin Tajuddin, however, said that he expected this issue to drag on for a long time and uncertainty still lingered.

“We don’t know whether this issue will only be resolved after the next general election and if this current agreement will change again after that,” he said.