Govt land encroachment: Talks with building owners initiated

PUTRAJAYA: The company that constructed buildings on two plots of government land in Medan Imbi in Kuala Lumpur has written a letter to the Federal Territories Ministry and initiated discussions to resolve the issue, according to FT minister Khalid Abdul Samad (pix).

He said the owner of the building had proposed to buy the land but further discussions were necessary to find the best solution.

“That was their suggestion, but we still need to talk. We also need to do a survey with the residents around the area on their needs,” he told reporters after the “Car-Free Day” programme in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day 2019, here today.

On Jan 16, Khalid had revealed a case in Medan Imbi involving land encroachment on Lot 568 owned by the Federal Territories Land and Mines Office and Lot 716 belonging to the Federal Territories Land Working Committee that comes under the supervision of the Chief Secretary to the Government.

He was report as saying that the site, covering a total of 0.14 hectares, was originally a playground with trees but was now a site for a six-storey office building and fruit stalls.

On Jan 23, Khalid’s office lodged a report with the MACC to enable investigations on if there were elements of misconduct and abuse of power in granting the planning permission to construct permanent structures at the affected site.

On the encroachment of two other government-owned lots in Mukim Petaling and Mukim Setapak, Kuala Lumpurm which was revealed on Wednesday, he said the developer had contacted the ministry unofficially.

“They have been keeping in touch informally, but they have not come to us yet. They want to know what their options are,” he said.

Asked whether his ministry would lodge a report to the MACC regarding the latest case, Khalid said it would be done after the Chinese New Year celebration.

Prior to this, he was reported to have said that the land encroachment involves Kompleks Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba at Lot 33600, Jalan Kuchai Jaya 1, in Petaling and Kompleks Yayasan Wangsa Perdana’s Dewan Shazac Bistari at Lot 27679 Jalan Gombak, in Setapak.

Khalid said for the 0.8 acres of land at the Tun Abdul Ghafar Complex, a Development Order was obtained from the authorities on April 25, 2017, while for the Dewan Shazac Bistari of the Wangsa Perdana Foundation Complex on 0.7 acres, no such order was given.

Earlier, during the programme, Khalid accepted a Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) certificate on behalf of Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) for their achievement as the first relay team to successfully complete seven multi-disciplinary sports.

The record includes seven types of sports namely, running, biking, swimming, canoeing, climbing stairs, skydiving and equestrian that was completed in less than six hours by seven PPj officers.

PPj president Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim also participated in the relay, riding a horse for 5-km. — Bernama

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