Negeri Sembilan MB urged to investigate council’s ‘oversight’ in Taman Desa Duranta affair

SEREMBAN (Aug 27): Rembau PAS chief Mohamad Hassan Tamby yesterday urged the Negeri 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.