(From left) Kho, Chiew and Tan at a section of the retaining wall, which comprises stacks of oil drums.
KUCHING: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) has no jurisdiction over land where no buildings have been built, says the council’s chairman Lo Khere Chiang.
Lo was responding to the statements of Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen’s special assistant Christina Chiew and former Stampin MP Julian Tan Kok Ping which accused him of not assisting a house owner at Jalan Sungai Moyan, Batu Kawa here to resolve his complaint against a developer who built a retention wall behind his house.
Yesterday, the house owner, Willie Kho, sought help from Democratic Action Party (DAP) to settle his dispute with the developer who is the owner of the land behind his house.
The retaining wall made of oil drums spans over 134m in length and reaches the height of 12 feet (3.8m) from the ground level where Kho’s house is sited on.
“Every time it rains, soil gets washed down and flows together with rainwater to my house. The construction of the retaining wall was substandard,” said Kho, adding that the situation also caused drain blockage at the area.
“The area gets flooded every time it rains heavily.”
Making the matter worse, Kho learned that the contractor had planned to add another layer of oil drums on top of the present retaining wall, increasing the height by another three feet (1m).
“This is very worrying. I might be forced to relocate my family soon should the situation become too dangerous.”
“There are no buildings located on top on the land. The landowner only did earth-filling,” said Lo.
Lo also pointed out that the retaining wall is located within the land belonging to the developer and that he is earth-filling his own land.
The MPP chairman added he had advised Kho to seek legal advice as the landowner did not submit any development plans on the land to the Land and Survey Department before he built the retention wall and earth filling.
“I strongly advised the complainant to take legal action against the landowner. I think this is the best option for the complainant,” said Lo when contacted yesterday.
Lo also told the house owner to lodge complaints against the landowner to the Land and Survey Department and the state Ministry of Urban Development and Natural Resources.
Earlier, Chiew told the press after visiting Kho’s house that the MPP chairman should deal with complaints lodged by the people in areas under the council’s jurisdiction, instead of asking them to seek solutions themselves.
Kho said he first approached Lo for help in July last year and since he did not get any assistance from MPP, he decided to turn to DAP.
Chiew said Lo should have provided a proper explanation to the complainant as the area is under MPP’s jurisdiction.
“Who should be responsible should anyone suffer injuries, or should there be deaths due to the substandard construction of the retaining wall. What if the retaining wall, made from oil drums, collapsed and buried the complainant’s house?” she questioned.
Former Stampin MP Julian Tan, who was with Chiew during the inspection, said it was unacceptable for Lo to shift the responsibility of solving the issue to the house owner.
“This issue should have been solved immediately without further delay, as it poses grave danger to the complainant and his family,” said Tan.