Sealing off of City Hall headquarters: FT Minister wants report in 14 days
28/04/2006 The Malay Mail By NAJMUDDIN NAJIB

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territories Ministry has given City Hall 14 days to submit a detailed report on the April 19 incident when the council’s Jalan Raja Laut headquarters was almost sealed due to a court order. The report is expected to shed light on why no representatives from City Hall or their insurance carrier, Takaful Nasional, was present for the hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on March 21.

Their absence eventually led to the court awarding RM500,910, in judgment by default, to the family of Haris Abdullah Hue, the father of three-year-old Putera Marzuqi Hue, who fell four-floors through a broken railing at the Sri Melaka flats last year.

When contacted at his home yesterday, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique, who is on medical leave until Friday, told The Malay Mail his Ministry had instructed City Hall to launch an internal domestic inquiry on the matter.

"They have two weeks to complete their investigation. We will examine the findings of the inquiry before deciding on the next move," he said.

Zulhasnan said the inquiry is also expected to produce a detailed report on the safety conditions of all Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) flats managed by City Hall.

"They have to provide an all-round review on safety aspects, as well as submit pro-active recommendations on how to improve them.

"This is especially crucial as it involves the safety of the people," he said.

Zulhasnan declined comment when asked for his opinion on the issue.

"It will not be fair for me to say anything at this juncture. Some may interpret it as being prejudiced to one side or the other.

"Let us wait for the official report," he said.

The court case came about after the boy's accident when Haris sued Datuk Bandar Datuk Ruslin Hasan on Jan 23 on account that City Hall failed to maintain its facilities and disregarded the Sri Melaka flats residents' complaints for two years.

On March 21, the Kuala Lumpur High Court awarded the family RM500,000 in general damages, RM685 in special damages and RM225 in costs.

When City Hall failed to pay up, the family's lawyer, Keppy Wong, obtained a writ of seizure and sale from the court on April 10.

On April 19, Wong, his co-counsel and a court bailiff went to City Hall headquarters to present the writ and demand payment. Unable to secure a meeting with Ruslin, they decided to seal the building.

Halfway through the task, they were invited to a meeting with City Hall's Deputy Director of Administration, Normah Malik, who informed them that the cheque would be ready soon.

The cheque was delivered to Haris at 4.30pm the same day.

However, Takaful Nasional, in its bid to reclaim the RM500,000, has appointed lawyers to set aside the court’s judgment.