MB urged to investigate council’s ‘oversight’ in Taman Desa
Duranta affair
26 August 2015
Rembau PAS chief Mohamad Hassan Tamby today urged the Negri
Sembilan menteri besar to take a serious view of the landowner’s eviction of
house buyers in Taman Desa Duranta, near Senawang.
Hassan said while housing developers had been known to
vanish after taking deposits from house buyers, the Taman Desa Duranta case was
quite different.
“The house buyers are being evicted from the land by the
owner.
"The question is, how did the housing project gain the
Seremban Municipal Council (MPS)’s approval?
"It is known that a housing project must be approved by
various government departments, especially the council and land office. And if
the buyers are government staff, the housing loans are managed by the loan unit
in Putrajaya.
"How could MPS and the Land Office have failed to be
aware that there was a conflict in the names of the landowner?” he said.
“It is logical to assume that things like the name of the
owner of the land for the project would be carefully checked by the MPS and the
Land Office before they issue their approval.
“Every housing and commercial project is subject to either
the assessment rate or land tax.
“How something like this can happen is a mystery. The result
of it is quite clear, however – which is that the house buyers are the
victims.”
Hassan urged the menteri besar to investigate the matter to
check for weaknesses in the state and
local authorities’ system that had allowed such an oversight.
Hassan, who is on the state PAS committee, also urged the
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate for corruption in
the project approval process.
"I suggest that the menteri besar set up a committee of
inquiry as soon as possible, chaired by himself as the matter comes under his
portfolio.
"I also advise the Taman Desa Duranta home buyers to
report the problem to the MACC for investigation into whether there was
corruption in the approval process of the housing estate.
Hassan said some of the house buyers had lodged complaints
via Negeri Sembilan PAS’s Public
Complaint Centre on Facebook.
“However, we did not issue a statement at the time as the
case was still being heard in court,’ he said. – August 26, 2015.
