A building contractor has initiated court action against the Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) for allegedly operating a 135 room hotel in its building in Bayan Lepas without a certificate of completion and compliance (CCC).

Contractor Solhi Saidin and his company Carrit Electrical and Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd are plantiffs in the case which is up for case management today at the Penang High Court.

Solhi ( left ) and Carrit have also named the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) as the second defendant in the case, for allegedly allowing the building to be used as a hotel without a proper permit since 2008.

Solhi, 41, was the project manager who carried out renovation and upgrading works for LTH from January 2007 to July 2009, to upgrade the 89 room hostel to a hotel with 135 rooms, restaurant and meeting halls.

The project cost RM13 million.

“I am disappointed with MPPP for not enforcing the law, allowing LTH to continue operating it's business in the premise although a proper CCC has yet to be issued then,” Solhi told a press conference on Monday.

Solhi said he is taking LTH and MPPP to court in the interest of public safety and transparency.

“As the party responsible for the project, I am worried about the safety of the public, especially hotel visitors who include children, pregnant women, the physically challenged and senior citizens,” Solhi added.

In his originating summons, Solhi wants LTH to empty (make vacant) Blocks A, B and the hall in the building until the CCC has been issued.

He is seeking an injunction to prevent LTH or any off its staff, agents or service providers to operate in the said areas until the CCC is issued.

He wants MPPP to enforce and do whatever that is necessary to the building according to the 1974 Street, Drainage and Building Act (Akta Jalan Raya dan Bangunan), including enforcing its earlier plan to demolish the affected areas.

To back his claims, Solhi showed a copy of two notices issued by MPPP on Nov 1, 2010 requiring LTH to demolish the extension of the building, roof structure, partition walls (of the additional rooms) and empty the said areas.

He wants MPPP and LTH to bear the cost of his legal action and other reliefs as determined by the court.

Solhi said the basis of his legal action is the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report which stated that the building was renovated and upgraded by LTH without MPPP's approval.

That Blocks A, B and the Hall areas are still being used today and open to public “illegally” without the CCC, he added.

‘Building is safe for occupancy’

In an immediate response, LTH Corporate Communications Department denied that the hotel was run illegally, saying the CCC has been obtained and the building is “safe for occupancy”.

“Renovations and upgrading works of the building are completed according to plans submitted by the principal project consultant to the MPPP, which have been approved,” said the department.

“The case is now in court and Solhi’s demands are being strongly challenged by LTH based on strong arguments with merits,” LTH added in a statement.

Along with the statement, LTH issued a copy of the CCC dated Sept 24 last year, four years after the building was supposedly renovated, upgraded, and occupied by the hotel’s staff and visitors.

The CCC was issued by Arkitek Atma Sdn Bhd, and was signed by professional architect Ahmad Tajuddin Mohd Ali.

Since 2007, CCCs are issued by the principle submitting person, who are the project architects, and not the MPPP.

LTH also included the hotel restaurant’s business premises licence but Solhi questioned why the former did not provide its hotel operating license.

The CCC copy issued to the press included extension work, on top of renovation and upgrading works for the building in its title.

However,  Solhi said this is not according to the project description which includes only renovations and upgrading works previously done by him.