The Selangor government is blaming the past BN administration for forcing 13 nursery operators to operate on a piece of land that the current state government is trying to reclaim.

ngo pro selangor government rally 230111 faekah Faekah Husin ( left ), the political secretary to Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, said that the relocation of the nurseries had posed a safety threat because the new nursery sites sit above high pressure water pipes.

"The current (nursery) sites are safety reserves where buried under are two high pressure water pipes which are 2.2m and 2.05m in size respectively.

"The 16km pipes from Jalan Batu 3, Sungai Buloh to Jalan Subang fulfils the water supply needs to more than one million people," said Faekah in a statement today.

She said that the 13 nursery operators relocated to the current site after being evicted, along with 50 others, from a 75.16 acre piece of land in 1999.

The Sungai Buloh hospital now sits on the land.

Following their eviction, Faekah said that the state government at the time had hastily directed the Petaling Land Office to issue a temporary occupation licence (TOL) at the current site.

"All this was done without thinking about the rakyat's safety. Furthermore, it goes against Selangor's land laws," said Faekah, adding that the site was safety reserve land.

Safety issues

Faekah said that the TOL was frozen following the takeover of the state government by Pakatan Rakyat following complaints from the works department and Selangor water distributor Syabas.

"(They sternly) opposed any application for developments along the pipeline to avoid any incidents such as which happened in the past," she said.

Among others, she mentioned the burst water pipe along Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya on April 26 last year which caused a 15m pothole that damaged three cars and injured one person.

NONE The nursery operators are up in arms over the decision of the state government not to renew their temporary occupation licences, in favour of granting land rights to the state funded Selangor Foundation (Yayasan Selangor).

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim ( left) said that the takeover would ensure that the land would be better managed by the foundation and it will stop illegal rent collecting activities by the nursery operators.

The onus is now on Khalid to decide whether to evict the operators.

Selangor Foundation's finances in good health

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Noh Omar, who is also Selangor Umno deputy chief, claimed that the state government was attempting to seize the land because of its value.

He said that the Selangor Foundation was in the red with RM7.5 million in debt and that the move was akin to a "land grab".

NONE Refuting this, Faekah said Noh Omar's (left ) allegations were unfounded as the foundation was not in financial trouble and has more than RM50 million in fixed deposits.

"If the statement was made by the boys in Gerakan Anti-Penyewelengan Selangor it would be normal. They are naughty boys making noise.

"But unfortunately, the statement was made by a minister who has ties with the previous (state) administration," she said.

Faekah also reminded Noh that the offer by Khalid to teach Umno leaders basic accounting was still open.