Frustrated landowner takes matters into own hands to solve land encroachment issue

FOUR years after being repeatedly ignored by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) regarding a land encroachment issue on his property, a frustrated house owner decided to take matters into his own hands, and the results were swift.

Datuk Edmund Lim's action of placing a 10ft by 20ft steel container in the middle of a public road in Jalan Bukit Desa in Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur, two weeks ago, which obstructed traffic, resulted in quick action by the authorities.

On Friday (March 18), DBKL officers arrived at the scene following public complaints due to the obstruction.

Lim bought a 430 sq m residential unit in Jalan Bukit Desa in Taman Desa Jalan Kelang Lama, KL, four years ago.

However, as soon as he moved in, Lim, who is in the construction line, noticed that his land was smaller than his neighbours.

Lim hired a land surveyor to remeasure his property and was shocked to discover that 93.74 sq m of land was missing.

“The developer for the area had wrongly measured the land, and now 1,009 square feet of my land is on a public road.

“I wrote to DBKL with all the drawings and papers asking for a solution, but was ignored. So I did what I had to do to get their attention," he said.

What Lim did was place a steel container on the road in front of his house, on the part that was legally part of his land. He also cordoned off the area with traffic cones.

For two weeks, the presence of the steel structure irked so many residents and motorists in the area that multiple complaints were lodged with the DBKL and the office of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

This morning, a team of DBKL officers with their own land surveyors arrived at the scene and acknowledged that Lim was right all along.

“They agreed that it was my land and there was a mistake and asked me as a good will gesture to remove some of the cones, and promised to come back with a solution that is acceptable to all parties.

“I want to make myself clear here, I only put the steel container there to prove a point to them as I have waited for four years since submitting my complaint to them," Lim said.

So what about the steel structure?

“That will remain until my issue is resolved,’’ added Lim.

Attempts to get DBKL for comments were futile.