The 64 year-old joss-stick seller trading on railway reserve land in Kantan near Chemor in Perak for the past nearly 50 years is now caught in a quandary.

He has been ordered by the Kinta land office to vacate his premises within two weeks and but cannot afford to pay current market rates for two alternative sites proposed by the land office.

liew chin nam yew kheong joss stick manufacturer ktm land perak 240609 04 Liew Chin Nam (left) was devastated and lost when Malaysiakini met him at his lawyer's office.

"How am I going to pay at current market value for alternative sites which are priced at hundreds of thousands of ringgit when my income from the joss-stick business is only sufficient for my family's monthly expenditure," he lamented.

"The two weeks' notice to vacate my premises is not enough and also there is no affordable alternative site tfor me to continue, " said Liew with a cry in his voice.

The Kinta land office has given Liew a two-week reprieve until July 15 after the initial two-week eviction notice had ended on July 1.

Kinta land officer Razali Othman had told Liew's lawyer G. Balasunderam that his client must vacate the railway land by July 15, failing which Liew will be forcefully removed.

Razali had stated that Liew must pay market value for the two alternative sites suggested by his office.

One site is situated in Batu Gajah and the other site is another half acre land costing more than RM100,000 in the Kantan Industrial Park.

Liew's had attempted from June 17 to block all the legal efforts by the land office to seize control of his business premises but now has to face the reality of having failed.

Liew had made two police reports against the land office, made an appeal to Mentri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir and even filed a High Court injunction against the land office but it all has come to nought.

Rental not accepted

Liew and his family have been paying RM125 a month in rental for the railway land since the 1960's.

After February this year, KTMB refused to accept the rent payments and told Liew to vacate and make way for the double tracking railway project by Gamuda Bhd.

On June 17, the land office had issued a two-week notice under Section 425 of the National land Code declaring that he is occupying state land illegally.

This was denied by Liew's lawyer G Balasunderam who had on Monday filed an injunction against the land office and KTMB's business arm, Railway Asset Corporation in the High Court to declare the 14-day eviction notice null and void and that Liew is a legal tenant.

The next day ,Liew lodged another report with the Ipoh district police headquarters.

liew chin nam yew kheong joss stick manufacturer ktm land perak 240609 05 In the report, he stated that he had applied for an injunction against the land office nullifying the 14 day eviction notice.

He requested the police not to support the land office in the eviction order against him.

To ensure that the land office does not jump the gun, Liew through Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) K Kunasekaran sent copies of the police report to thge mentri besar, the state legal adviser and state special adviser on Chinese Affairs Chang Ko Youn.

According to Balasunderam , Razali was rude to his client and did not consider his case on humanitarian grounds and told him to vacate as soon as possible.

Razali had also said that the railway reserve land is considered state land and is not private land as presumed by Liew.

The land officer also stated that no compensation will be paid for commercial activities on state land.

"Our last line of defence is getting a certificate of urgency from the High Court which will be made next week to hear the application for the injunction order before July 15," Balasunderam said.