Staying resolute however, the Sungai Besar Umno division chief argued that he complied with all the demands made by the Sabak Bernam district council in regard to the hotel.

He lamented that despite bending over backwards, the council still refused to issue the permit he needed to legally operate the resort.

“I made the necessary application years ago.

“I complied with all their terms and conditions. I’ve paid what needed to be paid, I’ve appointed consultants and engineers, everything the local council asked for, I complied with.

“But (Sekinchan assemblyman) Ng Suee Lim, through the district council, still refused to give me the licence to operate the hotel,” he told FMT.

The Umno man also revealed that despite struggling to obtain approval from the district council, he was adamant about building the Sekin Fishermen Village Hotel & Resort, for sentimental reasons.

“My mother chose that parcel of land. When I was little, she and I would cycle there every day after school to clear it up.

“So when I made some money from my other businesses, I bought the land as a gift to my mother. I didn’t even tell her about it until the resort was built.

“And she cried when she saw it as it brought back memories of how she had toiled to clear the land there years ago.”

Jamal said it was this memory he carried in his heart of his mother, coupled with his wish to see Sekinchan developed, that made him persevere to get approval from the local authorities.

The five-year-old resort was however demolished by the Sabak Bernam District Council (MDSB) yesterday afternoon, he said.

According to a notice served by MDSB, the action was taken under UUK38 of MDSB Hotel Bylaws 2013. The notice stated that an inspection by MDSB found that Jamal had operated the hotel without a valid licence under UUK3(1) of the bylaws.

“It’s not that I refused to follow the law, I did. But they still refused to grant me the licence,” said Jamal.

“On top of that, they gave me the seizure notice yesterday morning, and in the afternoon they demolished the structures completely.

“Now what is going to happen to the 38 employees who have worked at the resort these past five years?”

Ng, when contacted, said he had no power to instruct the district council to give licences or approvals. This was because the council acted according to the law, and not his instructions, he explained.

Ng also claimed that Jamal falsely accused the council of demolishing his hotel when the party responsible for it was the land office.

“The council only seized the property. But the demolition was done under the National Land Code 425 for the trespass of government’s reserve land.

“While he owned part of the land, some parts of his resort were built on government land. So he is actually trespassing.

“That was why we asked him to reconstruct the resort,” Ng explained.