The state assembly meeting in Shah alam yesterday. — KK SHam/ The Star
THE Selangor government is formulating an action plan to regulate businesses operated by foreign nationals married to locals.
State local government and tourism committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim acknowledged while many couples genuinely wanted to run legitimate businesses, some exploited such marriages to secure business licences.
“These opportunists marry locals solely to obtain business licences, making it challenging for enforcement teams to distinguish between genuine cases and those driven by ulterior motives.
“The state will work with relevant agencies to address this issue,” he said, without going into details, during the Selangor State Assembly sitting at Bangunan Dewan Negeri Selangor in Shah Alam.
Ng was responding to supplementary questions from Abbas Salimi Che Adzmi@Azmi (PH-Sri Serdang) on foreign nationals who married locals and used their spouse’s name to operate businesses.
In reply to Wan Dzahanurin Ahmad (PN-Sungai Kandis) who asked on the frequency of enforcement operations against premises run by foreigners with local licences, Ng said a total of 322 operations were conducted throughout Selangor.
“Over the past three years, 32 business licences were revoked by local councils for ‘subletting’ their licences to foreign nationals.
“The highest number was by Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ) where 16 licences were revoked,” he said.
Separately, state housing and culture committee chairman Datuk Borhan Aman Shah said 29 notices were issued to tenants of People’s Housing Project (PPR) Kampung Baru Hicom in Shah Alam for subletting violations.
Borhan said operations were routinely carried out to curb subletting in public housing.
Action taken included cutting off electricity supply to the units, he added.
Following a 2024 census by Selangor Housing and Property Board (LPHS), he said 16 of the violators had vacated the units with further action taken on those who refused to move out.
“The census was carried out by Perumahan Dan Hartanah Selangor Sdn Bhd (PHSSB) as the management agent of the public housing project.
“From the census exercise, PHSSB identified units occupied by individuals who were not the registered tenants or were being sublet, based on complaints from the PPR residents themselves.
“Consequently, rental terminations or enforcement actions were taken against the tenants involved,” he said in response to a question by Preakas Sampunathan (PH-Kota Kemuning) on the whitelisting exercise of public housing units in the state.
“Cooperation from residents is crucial in reporting such cases to LPHS and PHSSB to address the issue effectively.
“Strict action will be taken against tenants found engaging in subletting,” he said.
Borhan added that operations were routinely carried out to curb subletting activities in such public housing.
PHSSB, he said, had also identified 33 empty units in PPR Kampung Baru Hicom requiring major repairs before it could be rented out again.
“For this year, a budget has been allocated for 20 units currently being repaired, while the budget to repair the remaining 13 units will be allocated next year,” he said.
