Source: Malaysiakini
In a sign of changing times squatters handed over a memorandum to the state government seeking Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir's assurance that they would be allocated alternative housing lots once they meet the Oct 31 deadline for leaving the former mining land.
The memorandum from 183 residents of Kampung Meru Tin was received by Zambry's personal secretary when they had actually wanted the menteri besar ,who had promised them that he would look into their grievances personally, to receive the document.
Although, on Aug 20 Zambry had given them the Form 5A application for land titles and offer letters from Kinta Land Office for the resettlement plan, the villagers who had been staying on the land since 1940, still remember the bitter experience other squatters had gone through.
And that had thrown doubt in their minds about the Land Office's willingness to follow through.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) committee member K Kunasekaran has been spearheading this eleven year alternative lots campaign for the squatters since 1998.
"This doubt arose after the bad experience of villagers residing in Jalan Tokong in Jelapang about 10 years ago, who were promised alternative land for resettlement but were left in the lurch once they had vacated the land.
"Later these villagers formed a committee to fight for their rights but were given the alternative land about 20km away in Kelabang," Kunasekaran claimed.
Four MBs- long campaign
"So we do not want the same fate to befall these Kampung Meru Tin squatters who are mainly factory and contract workers and hawkers," he said.
According to him, each squatter has been promised a 45' X 80' plot with all infrastructure in place for which they have to pay RM12,300 each, to be settled in 12 instalments.
The sum includes the cost of development (earthworks),payment for surveys done, supply of piped water and electricity, construction of road, facilities for harvesting rainwater and land titles as stated in the land office letter dated 11, June, 2009.
The land rights campaign has gone through four mentri besars from Ramli Ngeh Talib, Mohd Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali, Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin and now to Zambry.
According to Kunasegaran, when the state government sold the land to a private developer in 1998, the villagers protested and withstood the might of the Federal Reserve Unit.
Their uphill fight eventually paid off when the government finally caved in and took back the land from the developer in 2004.
The price for the land including the infrastructure was fixed at RM15,000 each to which the villagers raised objections and, during Nizar's term, open tenders were issued for the development of the land with the price reduced to RM12,300.
Sharp questions demand answers
However, now the villagers want that sum to be brought down to RM10,000 as they feel the current price is too high and beyond their means.
Questions that Kunasekaran wants to be answered are:
- What if the squatters are unable to pay up these instalments within the stipulated timeframe of one year as most of them are in the low-income group? Will they be given extended time to pay up or be evicted?;
- The villagers want a gazetted original plan for the redevelopment of their village and not just a layout plan as shown them;
- They are puzzled why only the three reasons of development costs, survey costs and land title are cited in the latest land office offer letter for the RM12,300 payment demanded whereas the earlier letter dated June 11 had greater detail. The villagers want to know the full details for this land payment as the latest offer letter is too vague for them to understand the implications;
- The new layout plan ignores the two Hindu temples and a Chinese one situated at the former site. The villagers want the three temples to be included in the newplan with the Chinese temple given one lot with two lots allocated for each Hindu temple. A community hall should also included in the plan; and,
- Clarification of the terms and conditions in the agreement signed between the land office and the developer with copies to each one of them.
