City Hall to demolish illegal Telipok factory

CITY HALL is gearing up to demolish a factory in one part of Telipok, five years after first declaring that the structure is illegal.

A spokesman from City Hall’s Legal Department said the premises had initially been slated for demolition in 2016.

“This followed the findings in a ‘Laporan Siasatan (investigation paper)’ from May that year, which established that the factory had been built without our approval,” he said.

“The operator was deemed to have contravened Section 2(1) of City Hall’s Building Bylaw 1951.”

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He explained that the factory was involved in processing ceiling boards and furniture. Some parts of the building also served as a store for these items.

A notice was issued to the operator in October 2016, instructing him to either relocate or dismantle the factory, according to the spokesman.

“At the time, he was given a fortnight to comply and informed that failure to do so could see further action taken against him.

“The individual was warned that he risked being taken to court.

The ceiling boards being dried on the land.

“Additionally, we would have carried out the demolition, with the cost of the exercise being passed on to the operator.” The spokesman said the owner’s liability for the expenses was set out in Section 4 of the agency’s Building Bylaw 1951 (Amendment 1987). “Unfortunately, legal action, started by the factory-owner, prevented us from making good on the demolition.”

He said the operator’s case was struck out at the High Court in March this year.

“We are waiting for the note of proceedings, as well as details on the status of the case, from our panel lawyer.

“Once we have this black and white, we will begin arranging for the demolition.”

The spokesman was responding to feedback from a reader who was at a loss to understand how the illegal factory in Telipok could still be running after all these years.

He felt this reflected poorly on City Hall as the agency had failed to properly crackdown on what had been transpiring on the property This individual provided Hotline with the location of the factory which was forwarded to City Hall.

The spokesman said a check of its records revealed that the land, on which the factory was located, belonged to several individuals.

“A disagreement has apparently broken out among this group,” he said.

This Telipok property was intended for agricultural use and not meant to house the factory.

PETE of Telipok said the land, on which the factory was operating, had not been intended for industrial-use.

“Agriculture-related activities are meant to take place on this property,” he said, adding that he was one of the co-owners of this land.

“I have spoken to the party, who set up the factory, but my pleas have, thus far, fallen on deaf ears.”

He said he enlisted City Hall’s help “years ago” to help address this misuse.

“At one stage, I was made to understand that the agency was getting ready to put a stop to the factory but it seems like this was all talk as nothing ever came of these intentions.

A glimpse inside the factory.

Pete hoped City Hall would take this matter seriously for the benefit of any employees who lived and worked on the land.

“Thankfully, nothing bad has happened after all this time.

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“But, should a fire break out, who will be held responsible for any injuries, or worse, suffered by the workers and their families? “Considering that the factory is illegal, the possible outcome for these innocents does not look good.”

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