The former Klang councillor hogged the headlines last year when he had a run-in with the law for not submitting building plans for the mansion.

The house was highly controversial because he had built it despite breaking every building regulation in town while Selangor was evicting squatters and tearing down temples for the same reason.

It is believed that this was one of the reasons that ruling Barisan Nasional lost Selangor in the March elections.

Datuk Zakaria died of a heart attack shortly after the polls. The Selangor government has now given his widow a month to remove the fencing surrounding the mansion and the land next to it.

'The late Zakaria started the construction of his mansion without an approval of the building plan in early 2006 and was fined a total of RM19,373 (S$8,119) or 10 times the building plan charge,' Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim told a press conference on Wednesday.

The house was completed in early October last year after getting approval.

'However, there are issues related to the land surrounding the mansion, where 2,267 sq m has yet to be approved. The District Land Committee rejected the land application for the surrounding land on Dec 14, 2007,' Tan Sri Khalid said.

The land must be cleared within a month or the owner could be taken to court for trespassing, he added.

Former menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had challenged the Pakatan Rakyat state government to take action since many of its leaders had slammed the previous government for failing to act then.

Up until recently, Mr Khalid said it had not found proof of any wrongdoing after a study was carried out.

He said the state government also wanted to do the right thing and not act in haste even though it could have won political mileage by taking action.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK