District council issues vacate order
Shops were closed after police cordoned off buildings at Jalan Ah Sang in Kuala Krai following cracks that appeared after the construction of a swiftlet hotel. Pic by Syamsi Suhaimi
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A shopkeeper in the next building was also told to leave as it was also suffering extensive damage at the back.
It is believed that cracks started appearing in the first building about two months ago after the owner constructed an additional floor to the two-storey building to house a swiftlet hotel.
The owner of Kedai Emas Sri Warisan, Zikri Awang Lah, 35, said he had been renting a shop lot on the ground floor of the building for the past seven years.
“Cracks started appearing when the construction works began. I told the owner about it but he said there was nothing to fear as they had engineers monitoring the work.
“However, it became serious in the past two weeks and I decided to look for another site as I encountered problems opening one half of the grille in the shop. I have found a new shop nearby and started moving out my things on Wednesday.”
He said he received a phone call from the police about 3am and when he went to the building, the police had already placed tapes around the area to stop people from entering.
“I noticed that the top part of a beam at one corner had cracks and the grille of my shop was bent to one side and could not be opened.”
Leong Sow Song, in her 40s, who is the owner of a shop next door selling women’s apparel, said she had been told to vacate the premises by officers from the Kuala Krai District Council who came to inspect the building about 11am.
“I have been doing business here for the past two years and I don’t know where to move to,” she said.
The officers, however, declined to speak to the press.
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