MPAJ seeking High Court ruling on Highland Towers
AMPANG Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) will seek a High Court order to proceed with the demolition of the remaining blocks of Highland Towers in Hulu Kelang, Selangor.
This comes after MPAJ failed in its latest bid to obtain court approval from the Ampang Magistrate's Court to bring down the structures.
MPAJ deputy president Hasrolnizam Shaari said the next course of action would be to bring the matter to the High Court for a ruling.
'We will need to get leave from the High Court to decide if MPAJ is allowed to carry out the demolition.
'The Magistrate's Court directed MPAJ to seek an order from the High Court as Highland Properties Sdn Bhd (the landowner) has been wound up,' Hasrolnizam said after chairing the local council's monthly full board meeting at Menara MPAJ in Pandan Indah yesterday.
Last year, MPAJ initiated the process to demolish the remaining blocks, following multiple complaints from neighbouring residents.
Then president Dr Ani Ahmad had said MPAJ would issue a notice to the property owners to demolish the structures.
She had also said due process would be carried out according to Sections 87, 88 and 89 of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133).
These relate to nuisances (Sections 87 and 88) and demolition of a house unfit for habitation (Section 89).
At the time, she said the demolition was estimated to cost between RM6mil and RM7mil.
The Highland Towers tragedy occurred on Dec 11, 1993, when one of the three blocks collapsed, resulting in 48 fatalities.
The remaining towers were evacuated for safety reasons, leading to the area's eventual abandonment.
On another matter, Hasrolnizam said MPAJ supported Selangor's centralised parking initiative, citing its potential to streamline operations and boost revenue.
'Although MPAJ is not one of the four initial councils targeted for the first phase, there have been discussions.
'So far, we do not have any major concerns,' he said, adding that the municipal council currently collected about RM600,000 in monthly parking fees.
The Selangor Intelligent Parking (SIP) system is a state-led initiative to digitalise and centralise public parking.
It is spearheaded by Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) Selangor and implemented through a company in collaboration with local councils.
Under the SIP model, parking revenue will be split with 50% going to the concessionaire, 40% to the local councils involved and 10% to MBI.
SIP is meant to kick off with Petaling Jaya City Council, Shah Alam City Council, Subang Jaya City Council and Selayang Municipal Council.
Hasrolnizam said between January and July 24, MPAJ collected RM5.1mil in parking revenue.
The main contributors were special bay rentals (RM2.5mil) and online payments (RM2.3mil), followed by monthly passes (RM144,000) and resident passes (RM193,000).
During the meeting, Hasrolnizam also reported on MPAJ's efforts to recover assessment tax arrears from property owners as part of a pilot project launched in June last year.
The initiative targeted 57 account holders with a total debt of RM109,462.
'As of July 2025, MPAJ successfully recovered RM75,728, achieving a 69.2% recovery rate.'
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