A GROUP of Sungai Buloh Green Lane plant nursery operators has obtained leave from the Shah Alam High Court to commence judicial review proceedings over a notice requiring them to vacate their lots by April 15.
The leave allows the operators to formally challenge the March 16 notice issued by the Petaling District and Land Office under Section 425 of the National Land Code 1965.
The matter was heard in chambers before High Court judge Justice Narkunavathy Sundareson.
Lawyer Rejinder Singh Gurdev Singh, who represented 13 applicants, briefed the group and reporters outside the courtroom on what had transpired in chambers.
He said the operators sought to quash the March 16 notice, arguing that it was unlawful because it alleged they were trespassers.
Rejinder said the operators were also seeking a stay on the notice to vacate pending disposal of the case.
"We have filed the application to quash the notice given by the Petaling Land Office ordering them to vacate because they are supposed to be trespassers. We are saying that the notice is bad in law," he said on Thursday (April 23).
"The stay application is needed because we want to preserve the status quo."
Rejinder also informed the court that the operators were told the state government has agreed not to demolish their current lots until Aug 31.
He added that the Attorney General’s Chambers did not object to the leave application.
He also said it was concerning that Selangor had not provided a written confirmation on the Aug 31 extension.
Rejinder suggested that the state’s earlier efforts to relocate the operators appeared to be at odds with its current position that they were trespassers.
"So the main issue is whether or not they are trespassers... that is one of the issues to be (raised) before the judge," he added.
On March 16, operators trading on 66 lots along Jalan Sungai Buloh received notices from the Petaling District and Land Office requiring them to vacate their premises within 30 days to make way for an elevated road linked to the Kwasa Damansara development.
While the state offered a one-off RM10,000 ex-gratia payment to help with the move, 14 out of 54 affected operators refused to accept it.
The High Court fixed May 15 for the stay application and May 20 for case management before the Deputy Registrar.
Among the operators at Shah Alam court today was Hew Hon Yoong, who said the recently announced four-month extension had brought only temporary relief: "They only gave us four more months, but there is still no clear solution."
Another operator, Jay Lee, said the extension alone would not solve the operators’ relocation problem.
"We are happy the state gave us an extension, but that is not enough," he said.
Lee said the operators were not refusing to move, but needed a workable relocation plan.
"In 2022, we agreed to move to Bukit Changgang in Kuala Langat, but that plan was scrapped as the location is prone to flooding," he said.
Earlier this week, Selangor infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Datuk Izham Hashim was quoted as saying that the operators have to spend about RM10mil to level the land they have been allocated in Bukit Changgang and fork out more for infrastructure development costs.
"Asking us to come up with such a large amount of money is very difficult," Lee added.
Muhamad Syuhaimi Abdullah said he felt some relief after the extension until Aug 31 was announced, but said more time alone was not enough.
"There is some relief now that more time has been given, but we still want the notice withdrawn and a suitable site provided before we vacate," he said.
