Ex-soldier causes ruckus
28/01/2007 The Star

KLANG: A retired soldier barged into an office in Jalan Batu Unjur 7 here just as enforcement officers raided the place for allegedly running an unlicensed housing business.

Fuming, Sulaiman Maarof rushed towards one of the two men who were being questioned and accused him of cheating him over a deal involving a 0.6ha agriculture land at Si Jangkang, in the Kuala Langat district.

Sulaiman said he had bought his agriculture land from his savings 15 years ago.

This incident happened in front of reporters who were covering the raid.

Housing and Local Government Ministry monitoring and enforcement director Dr G. Parameswaran, who led the Friday raid, restrained him.

The company, RHID Development Sdn Bhd, was allegedly operating without a housing development licence and permits for sales and advertisements.

Its two directors had also allegedly collected downpayments without a licence and had allegedly put the money into the company's own accounts instead of a housing development account.

Meanwhile at another function here, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting commented on this incident, saying the ministry took the matter seriously.

“When our own director heads a raid, you know we will leave no stone unturned,” he said.

When asked to comment, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo proposed that the ministry blacklist such problematic developers.

“I hope the ministry will look into the status of this developer's licences,” he said, adding that the state government had taken action against many errant developers.