Shopowners at PKNS flats told to repair building

Shopowners at Block A of PKNS flats in Jalan Kuching are crying foul over the notice from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), calling for them to either repair their building or demolish it.

The notice, addressed to shopowners of Block A and pasted on the walls, stated that DBKL officers had conducted an inspection that revealed the block was unsafe.

Eight shopowners are affected.

A petshop owner Goh Toh Hoo, 70, said shopowners were not notified individually.

“It is very irresponsible of them to merely put up a notice on the walls. What if someone just tore it off?

“If the flats are demolished, then where would we go?” he asked when met.

He said DBKL should have consulted the shopowners to discuss relocation or compensation for them before serving such a notice.

Ramasamy Kolandapayan, 77, who runs a sundry shop, said he owned only one shoplot. Above the shoplots are residential units.

“It does not make sense for the shopowners to repair or demolish this whole building.

“The building owner should be responsible for maintaining the building,” said Ramasamy.

He added that if the building was demolished, their livelihood would be affected.

The notice, issued under Section 83(1) of the Road, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133), gave the shopowners 14 days to repair any defects or demolish the building. It also stated that if the directive was not adhered to, the owners could be charged under the Act and if guilty, a fine of no more than RM250 could be imposed every day after the end of the 14-day time frame, which began on Aug 22.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) had, in 2009, clarified the status of the 15 blocks, which comprised 602 units.

“According to the letter, Block A to D, K, L, M, N, P and Q have 280 units that were sold to the Defence Ministry in a sales and purchase agreement dated Dec 24, 1975.

“Of the 220 units in Block E, F, G, H, and J, 216 were sold to the public, two are being rented out and another two are being occupied by PKNS as its office for land matters,” he said while reading from a letter he received.

The letter also stated that the maintenance for Block E, F, G, H and J is still under PKNS’ responsibility as a developer while the other blocks are the Defence Ministry’s responsibility.

“Strata titles for the flats were released by the Federal Territory Land Office in 2008 and PKNS is in the midst of transferring ownership of the units that were sold in stages to the buyers,” said Lim.

He added that he had handed a letter to DBKL to ask for the suspension of the notice until a meeting between the owners and DBKL was arranged to resolve the matter.