Hassle of doing business in KL

I have been having a spot of bother with DBKL recently (for almost two years now , actually). It started in May last year when we were still at the old premises, when two DBKL enforcement officers came into Silverfish Books and demanded to see our Lesen Premis. (Din Merican and Dina Zaman were there at that time and witnessed the whole event.) I told the enforcement officers that I had checked with my lawyers and the company secretary and they comfirmed that bookshops were not on the list of trades that required the said license. They wanted to see an official letter but, of course, I didn't have any. (So, like Kafka, yah? If you don't have a certificate confirming that you are sane, then you are not!) They said they were going to give me a Notis Kesalahan, and I said I was willing to accept one.

Subsequently, I wrote to the licensing department (by AR Registered, so I know they have received the letter) to seek clarification of the clause under which I was being charged. I received no reply. Meanwhile I managed to obtain a copy of the Local By-laws with the help of a lawyer. Neither one of us could find any clause that required bookshops to apply for a Lesen Premis.

On the 26th of November 2007, I received a reminder from DBKL to pay a fine of RM2000.00 or else....

On the 3rd of December 2007 went to see their Legal Officers (at the HQ building in Jalan Raja Laut). The legal officer I met was extremely polite and she explained to me that the UUK Pelesenan Tred Perniagaan & Perindustrian (WPKL) under which Silverfish Books was charged, actually only applied to business dealing with noxious material or were otherwise a danger to the public. As such, she said that bookshops were not on the list.

I came back and wrote them a letter thanking them for the clarification. They wrote back to us, withdrawing the Notis Kesalahan, with a copy to the Director of the Licensing Department with the message: 'Notis ini dibatalkan. Perniagaan tidak termasuk dalam senarai tred yang dilesenkan.'

I thought that was the end of it. Then we moved, and we applied for a new licence for our signboard (as required by the law.) But the Licensing Department refused to accept our application unless we also applied for a Lesen Premis (although we didn't require one). Having no choice we did.

Then we got a letter (dated 4th September 2007, but unsigned and not on the official DBKL letterhead, but looking authentic enough), slipped to us as it were, suggesting (I say this because I do not regard it as an official letter) that our application for the signboard licence (and the Lesen Premis) has been rejected because: 'Premis yang mempunyai tangga tunggal adalah tidak dibenarkan mengikut Undang-undang Kecil Bangunan Seragam 1984' with the letter being copied to the BOMBA, whose ruling it apparenly was.

I went to the legal department of DBKL again. They were again sympethetic and told me to see the legal officer at the licensing department in Kampong Baru. After trudging there, wasting half a day's work, they told me that while the lettter from the Legal Department was valid, they had their own rules!

I have written a letter to the Minister and the Mayor, with copies to the ACA, the Public Complaints Bureau, our MP for Bangsar and to the various newspapers. I don't know if anything will come out of it. But right now I am pessimistic with such impunity, such disregard for the law, despite a letter from their own legal advisors. Even Kafka would have been hard pressed to beat that.

Then there is the question of the 'tangga tunggal', that is buildings with only one staircase. From what I have seen there are no shophouses in KL, up to three storeys high, which have a second staircase or a fire escape. Are they all there illegal? Were they not approved by DBKL? Are all businesses and offices (including government) operating on the first (and upper) floors illegal?

People I tell this story to are, often, more outraged than I am. The audacity is mind numbing. I have received some advice on how this could be 'settled'. But I am old and I am tired. Enough is enough. Can we have the rule of law for a change?