News Legal/General News Council sued 
| Council sued |
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| Friday, 21 December 2007 06:40am | |
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Exterminators seek to nullify MPSJ conditions PETALING JAYA: The Pest Control Association of Malaysia (PCAM) is going to court to nullify a condition set by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council that all pest control companies operating in the municipality must be on its panel. The suit was fi led at the High Court in Shah Alam on Wednesday by Stopest (M) Sdn Bhd, which is also suing on behalf of other pest control operators in Subang Jaya, and PCAM president Ang Tan Loong, who is suing on behalf of the association. They want the court to declare the council’s condition requiring all pest control operators to register with its panel if they want to do business in the municipality, as ultra vires or beyond its legal jurisdiction, and therefore, null and void. They are also seeking a declaration that the council’s condition for a RM3,000 deposit from all exterminators is out of its legal jurisdiction. They are seeking costs and any other reliefs thought fi t by the court. Ang said in the statement of claim that the council had required all owners of business premises in Subang Jaya, who apply to renew their annual licences, to submit a certificate from a pest control operator to confirm that they have signed a contract for pest control services throughout the year. “On May 19, 2006, the defendant at its licensing technical committee meeting decided to issue and circulate a notice to all the said business premises owners, requiring them to engage the services of pest control operators, who are part of Konsortium Kawalan Jaya Sdn Bhd appointed by the defendant,” he said. Ang said the plaintiffs protested the council’s appointment of the consortium, as it had no power to do so and the companies in the consortium were not licensed under the Pesticides Act 1974. He said the plaintiffs, through their lawyers, requested for an explanation through a letter on June 30 last year but there was no reply. He said following the protests, council president Datuk Mohd Ariff Abdul Rahman issued an order that the conditions would apply to only food outlets first and that other business premises were exempted for three years. “As a result of all the other businesses and also the pest control operators protesting the ruling, the [mentri besar] of Selangor directed that the consortium be replaced with a requirement that all business premise owners, including pest control operators, have to register with the defendant’s panel,” Ang said. He said that in January, the council issued a new requirement for pest control operators to join a panel and required business premise owners to engage the services of only those on the panel. He said the council also issued 20 conditions that operators must meet to qualify to be on the panel. Among the conditions are they must have the relevant permit from the government to operate as pest control companies and a deposit of RM3,000. He said the council also imposed as a pre-condition for business licence renewal, a certifi cate to prove that business owners had engaged exterminators on the panel. Ang said the conditions were defective, illegal and violated the Federal Constitution and the Local Government Act 1976, by depriving the plaintiffs of the “right to free trade in the open market”. He said the conditions were not gazetted as required by the Act and the council had no legal right to impose the deposit, as it was not part of the licence fee for pest control operators to conduct their business. He also said the condition that the operators maintain the deposit and to top it up should there be a deduction made for unsatisfactory work was unreasonable as the council had failed to disclose the factors to measure satisfactory work. Comments (2)
We need more Public Interest Litigation
written by Dipendra H Rai, Friday, December 21 2007 10:55 am
Where duty lies written by Tan Peek Guat, Friday, December 21 2007 03:29 pm
The council should budget the annual assessments collected, and include also, the extermination of pests as their duty in maintaining cleanliness of the areas under its control. In this manner, it will not unnecessarily cause an upward spiralling effect of our costs of living. Write comment
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Save a tree (square) (10473)
What I would like to see in this country is the emergence and growth of public interest litigation.
The court ought to be the best check and balance available to ensure that the Executive does not go on, a frolic of its own.
In the absence of local government elections, the courts seems to be the best hope, at least in theory.
I hope more and more Malaysians take up public interest litigation for it will ensure that these "Little Napoleans" do behave according to the law.
Dipendra H Rai