Illegal buildings on govt land? Let’s talk

MPs given two weeks to submit their choice of candidates to sit on the DBKL Advisory Board.

BUILDING owners who have built their structures illegally on government land have been advised to approach Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Federal Territories Ministry to seek an amicable solution.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad urged owners to not wait until he holds a press conference to highlight the matter.

“If you realise that you have built a structure or building on government land, don’t wait for me to hold a press conference. Come and see me or the KL mayor.

“Tell us your story and we will discuss it and try to find a solution which is acceptable to all parties,” he said, in response StarMetro’s frontpage report on the plight of Ali Cafe Tomyam Seafood restaurant in Bangsar which is scheduled for demolition.

The Ali Cafe restaurant is built at a cost of RM3mil on top of a divider on a road reserve.

The land belongs to the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land and Mines Office.

KL mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan has ordered the demolition of the restaurant.

Khalid, who was speaking to reporters at the Anti-Litter campaign Saturday (Feb 9) morning at the Petronas station in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, said his ministry and DBKL were looking at each case individually.

He said that some cases were pretty straightforward while there were some that were “complicated”.

“With some structures, the development order has been issued and signed by DBKL. But the land belongs to the government; just like the Medan Imbi case.

“So it is semi-legal, but built on government land. This should not have happened.

“There is no standard approach (to deal with this) – we need to look at it on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

Khalid added that once a final decision is made, it must be acceptable to all parties including the residents of the area where the building is located.

“The worst case scenario is when the building will have to be demolished and the owners will have to accept that what they have done is wrong,” he said.

Last month, Khalid highlighted several similar cases in Kuala Lumpur where illegal buildings were constructed on government owned spaces.

The cases that have come to light involve buildings put up during the previous government's administration.