Tempers fray over charge that Kepong Umno HQ is illegally sited

TEMPERS frayed and heated words were exchanged at a press conference held by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng when Kepong Umno representatives showed up to dispute the charge that their headquarters in Taman Kok Doh was illegally sited.

Lim and Kepong Community Service Centre head Yee Poh Ping claimed that the land on which the Kepong Umno HQ has stood for the last several decades belonged to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

However, Kepong Umno chief Datuk Seri Rizuan Abd Hamid refuted this.

He said the party was not occupying the land illegally and that the site along Jalan 12/42 belonged to a private developer.

Things got so heated that Rizuan loudly and angrily clapped the rolled-up newspaper he was carrying.

“We had a permission letter from the late mayor Tan Sri Elyas Omar 30 years ago to serve the people here,” he said.

“We even constructed a hall with our own money and an allocation by the State Federal Development Office (ICU), and it was rented out to residents to hold weddings and other events,” he explained.

However, Yee said the land used to be a field and playground, and should revert to its original use.

“About 15 years ago, Kepong Umno occupied this area to set up the Kepong Recreation Centre. But it was used purely as an office, and residents had to pay to use the hall.

“This area falls under the Segambut parliamentary constituency, but how is it that the Umno Kepong division is allowed to operate here?” he asked.

Yee added that official complaints against this misuse of the site by residents were ignored by DBKL.

“Two years ago, the hall was demolished for the construction of a two-storey building to replace the event space. Piling works started but was halted last year,” Yee said.