theSun | TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3 2009
news without borders
Leasing of land
solution for gated
community scheme
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: The Selangor Housing and
Property Board has suggested a radical proposal
to tackle the problem of illegal gated and guarded
communities – it is asking developers and reg-
istered residents associations (RAs) to apply to
lease the land so that they can have complete
responsibility to manage and maintain the areas.
The board’s executive director Datin Paduka
Alinah Ahmad said RAs and developers can apply
for a lease of up to 21 years from the the state
secretariat for areas such as roads and reserve
lands for areas not listed as gated communities
under the Strata Titles Act 1985 (Act 318).
This can be done in accordance with Section
63 of the National Land Code (NLC) 1965, said
Alinah, who was speaking at a gated and guarded
community workshop in Ampang yesterday.
The workshop organised by the Selangor
Housing, Building Management and Squatters
Committee had representatives from various
local authorities, RAs and assemblymen to get
feedback and discuss various issues regarding
gated and guarded communities.
The issue is a growing concern in urban areas
due to rising crime rates. A lack of police enforce-
ment has caused many residents to opt for gated
and guarded communities, which, according to
Alinah, are illegal as there are no provisions under
the NLC and Strata Titles Act 1985.
However, it should be noted that there are
differences between a gated and a guarded
community.
A guarded community is defined as an en-
clave that is provided with security services with
Feb 4 date for Kok’s suit
against Syed Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yester-
day fixed Feb 4 next year for case management
of Teresa Kok Suh Sim’s suit against a former
home minister and three others for wrongfully
arresting and detaining her under the Internal
Security Act (ISA) last year.
Deputy Registrar Nazri Ismail set the date
in chambers.
On March 13, Kok, the Seputeh member of
parliament, filed the suit against Tan Sri Syed
Hamid Albar, Inspector-General of Police Tan
Sri Musa Hassan, DSP E Kim Tien and the
Malaysian government.
Kok was represented by counsel S.N. Nair
while the four defendants were represented by
senior federal counsel Lailawati Ali.
In her statement of claim, Kok said she
was arrested by the police at the entrance to
her residence at Pearl Tower, OG Heights, at
11.15pm on Sept 12 last year and detained for
two hours without being allowed to contact her
Uthayakumar fails to have sedition trial stayed
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here yesterday
dismissed an application by lawyer P. Uthayaku-
mar to have his sedition trial at the Kuala Lumpur
sessions court stayed on grounds, among others,
that judge Sabariah Osman was biased.
Judges Datuk Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku
Mahmud, Datuk Sulong Matjeraie and Datuk T.
Selventhiranathan, in a unanimous decision,
found no merit in the application.
Uthayakumar’s counsel, M. Manoharan, had
argued that Sabariah was biased during the hear-
ing and that being a sessions civil court judge she
should not hear a criminal matter.
Manoharan also contended that during the
trial on Sept 28, the judge had uttered the words
“I will consult someone” before refusing to recuse
herself from hearing the case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin
7
or without a guard house and has no physical
barriers, while a gated community is defined as a
development that is demarcated with a physical
structure that runs along the perimeter or bound-
ary with controlled access to the general public.
However, the suggestion to apply to lease
areas not listed as gated communities throws up
more questions, namely that of maintenance. The
NLC states the roads belong to the state author-
ity and maintenance is carried out by appointed
agencies without requiring residents to pay
maintenance fee. But once a property is leased,
it belongs to whoever applied for the lease and
thus it becomes private property.
“This means the property is no longer under
the state authority and maintenance is the re-
sponsibility of the party that has taken up the
lease,” said Alinah.
However, Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah
Yeoh said leasing the land does not address the
main problem, which is a matter of security.
“Guarded and gated communities exist as a
way to show a lack of confidence in the police.
There should be more monitoring from the police
and additional manpower to patrol areas,” said
Yeoh, who added that residents are extremely
frustrated over the lack of security.
Selangor Housing, Building Management and
Squatters Committee chairman Iskandar Abdul
Samad agreed with Yeoh and suggested that lo-
cal councils can also help play a role in patrolling
residential areas.
However, it should be noted that local authori-
ties have no power to have municipal policemen
but they are allowed to assign uniformed en-
forcement officers to patrol the streets, parks
and even housing estates.
closest relative or her lawyer.
She said that at 2am on Sept 13 at the Wangsa
Maju police station she was informed that she
was detained under Section 73(1) of the ISA on
the grounds that she had taken part in activities
that could cause tension and racial clashes.
Kok said she was then sent to a secret loca-
tion where she was detained without trial until
Sept 19.
She claimed that her arrest and detention
were done without basis and that because of
the negligence, arbitrariness and frivolity of the
defendants in effecting her wrongful arrest and
detention, she had been placed under severe
mental stress, pain and suffering due to food
poisoning and denial of her constitutional
rights.
She is seeking damages for wrongful arrest
and detention, pain and suffering and mental
stress, general and special damages and other
reliefs deemed fit by the court. – Bernama
said Uthayakumar had failed to disclose in his
affidavit any special circumstances to show why
the stay should be granted.
She also denied that judge Sabariah had used
those words at the hearing.
Uthayakumar, 48, has claimed trial to publish-
ing a seditious letter on a website, an offence
which carries a fine of up to RM5,000 or a maxi-
mum three years jail, or both.
The letter, dated Nov 15, 2007, was from the
Hindu-based activist group, Hindraf, addressed to
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No. 10,
Downing Street, London.
Uthayakumar’s application to obtain more
documents under Section 51A of the Criminal
Procedure Code on police investigations into the
1999 Kampung Medan issue will be heard by the
sessions court on Wednesday. – Bernama