Family urges S'gor MB to save 100-year-old house from demolition

Summary

• Sidhu family appeals to Selangor MB to save their century-old house from being destroyed.

• They have been in a long legal dispute over the land with a mining company.

• Court grants interim order to temporarily halt the demolition.

A family living in a century-old house in Rawang, Selangor, which is set for demolition, is turning to Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari to lend a hand in saving their property.

The Sidhu family has been in a long legal dispute with a mining company over the land that the house is standing on, and on Nov 29, the Shah Alam High Court issued an interim order to temporarily halt the demolition of the house.

One of the family members, Jimmy Sidhu, said that his family owned the British-era house and had been living there since the 1950s.

“The court granted this order to maintain the status quo of the house until the notice of motion at the Court of Appeal is decided.

“Hence, we are urging the Selangor menteri besar to intervene and save the ‘Rawang Heritage’ house from being demolished,” he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

Jimmy lives in the house with his mother, wife and two daughters, aged 14 and seven, respectively.

The home is also a gathering place for other family members who often visit during the weekends, he added.

On Nov 17, 2017, Malaysiakini reported that the Shah Alam High Court had dismissed the owner’s appeal to postpone the demolition of the house.

The mining company has repeatedly requested the family to vacate the premises to pave the way for the construction of a road to the quarry.

Although Jimmy’s grandfather purchased the house, the title deed for the property was lost in the 1970s, leading to legal disputes between the two parties.

The Sidhu family lost the case in 2016 and subsequently applied to halt the demolition works.

‘Lease us the land’

Jimmy said a British mining company originally built the house in the 1920s, and his family purchased it in the 1950s.

However, the ownership of the land where the house sits was consolidated with the surrounding mining land in the mid-1980s.

As such, he said, the family had approached the mining company to lease the land to them but received no response.

“We are not asking for it for free or seeking ownership of the land. We are willing to pay; we only want to lease the existing house area from the mining company,” he explained.

Regarding the loss of the house's ownership documents, he said the family had attempted to register the property title multiple times but to no avail.

“Every time our applications were rejected for various reasons, and during this period, four mining permits were renewed.

“I hope the Selangor menteri besar will give due attention to save this ‘Rawang Heritage’ house,” he pleaded.

Family fears century-old Rawang home in imminent danger

Century-old Rawang home gets another two-month reprieve

Court grants stay over plans to demolish 100-year-old house

Bid to save a family’s century-old home