Azmin could have stopped demolition with a phone call, Noh Omar says

Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar has criticised Menteri Besar Azmin Ali for not doing enough to halt yesterday's demolition of three houses and two shophouses near the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport that had initially left two families homeless.

As the state’s top authority, Azmin could have easily stopped the demolition, he said.

“He should have made the call to stop (the demolition)...all he had to do was make one phone call.

“It’s not like they (the families) were new here, they have lived here for years,” Noh told reporters after launching the National Housing and Property Summit 2017 in Subang Jaya today.

After the demolition, Azmin announced that the state government was offering the two families public low-cost (PPR) accommodation in Kota Damansara rent-free for six months.

Nevertheless, Noh maintained that the demolition was “cruel” as the offer should have been made before the structures were demolished.

“That was a cruel thing to do...I had made pleas for the families to be given a month at most (to look for a home) before offering them PPR accommodation in Subang 2.

“People usually offer homes first before demolishing,” added Noh, who is also the urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister.

Ordered by Malaysian Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), the demolition was carried out yesterday by both the Petaling District and Land Office and the Shah Alam City Council. The houses were occupied by former mosque committee members of the airport.

A protest was held against the demolition by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), which resulted in nine of its members being arrested by police. They were released on police bail later that day.

PSM secretary-general A Sivarajan had claimed that Azmin failed to respond to calls for him to put a halt to the demolition.

The party also claimed that the Selangor government insisted it was powerless to intervene, despite the issue involving state land.

In March this year, online portal Berita Daily reported that two former committee members of the Subang Airport mosque had submitted a memorandum to Azmin, urging him not to allow MAHB to use Petaling District and Land Office staff in the demolition process.

The report also stated that they were instructed to vacate their homes without receiving fair compensation from MAHB.- Mkini