SUBANG JAYA: Selangor has decided to evict a squatter restaurant on a 1.3-acre land at Serdang here following public outcry over the outlet’s illegal land status.

The plot, located at a commercial area at Persiaran Serdang Perdana, will be given to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) for the local authority to build a multi-level car park along with up to a dozen shoplots for rental.

Ean Yong (left) and his aide Thong Kim Fatt announcing the decision at his service centre on Jalan Sekolah.

“It will be built and managed by MPSJ for the benefit of the ratepayers there,” said Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah.

Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, he said, decided during a Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES) meeting on May 31 to hand over the land to MPSJ and not to a private developer to manage.

He said the state arrived at the decision based on many factors, one of them being that residents and businesses at the location had been asking MPSJ for more parking spaces.

He said the public would be able to rent both the parking bays seasonally, while the shoplots will be rented out on long-term basis.

He said the Land Office and MPSJ would be issuing eviction notices to the restaurant.

“The restaurant had been operating illegally for about 10 years without applying for a Temporary Occupational land (TOL) permit,” he said.

Selangor’s move to return the land to public status follows repeated allegations by Serdang MCA members that the state was “protecting” the restaurant owners there. Its party members had been asking Shah Alam to evict the restaurant and to build a bus station and an Immigration department branch there for residents’ convenience.

Ean Yong, who is also state executive councillor for new villages development, refuted the allegations last week in the Chinese press and instead pointed the finger at the previous state government for not taking action.