KUALA LUMPUR: A minister has come under fire for allegedly telling Bukit Jalil estate residents, who are facing eviction, to be contented with the Little India project when they wanted to negotiate compensation.
Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin had purportedly said this when he met the residents on Wednesday.
According to Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan, the minister had told the residents that they should be glad the government had spent a lot of money for the Little India project in Brickfields.
“What has Little India got to do with this issue?” asked the PSM leader during a press conference today.
He added that Nong Chik arbitrarily offered RM23,000 each to those who had worked in the rubber estate for more than 15 years and RM11,000 for the rest.
Initially, the offer was RM11,000 for those who worked there for more than 15 years and RM6,000 for the others.
Forty-one families had asked for three acres of a 26-acre land to build low-cost terrace houses as compensation for vacating the land they had been living on for three generations.
The City Hall (DBKL) had acquired their land in 1980 and pledged that the appointed contractors would pay their wages and make EPF contributions for working on the rubber plantation.
The pledge was not kept and the residents also demanded that DBKL pay up the outstanding wages and EPF contributions.
Nong Chik had told the residents during the meeting that the latest offer was the best the government could do and they had to make a decision on the offer within a week.
Arutchelvan said the residents were upset that their representatives were not allowed to speak at the meeting, which was attended by Nong Chik’s deputy M Saravanan and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam.
“He (Nong Chik) only allowed us to speak after much objection. Even the monetary offer was a mere verbal promise,” he said.
Arutchelvan added when asked on their demand for low-cost terrace houses, Nong Chik had told them that his latest offer was equivalent to getting a free house.
“Is it too much for the workers to ask for three acres of land, out of this 26-acre land, for them to build their houses?” asked the PSM leader.
Abuse of power
Arutchelvan also criticised the minister for allegedly threatening to send out eviction notices to the 41 families if they did not take up the latest offer within the one-week deadline.
“The community has lived here for three generations and he gives them one week to think about the offer. Plus, what eviction notice is he talking about?
“If he is talking about using the Emergency Ordinance to evict them, it will be nothing short of abuse of power. He himself admitted during the meeting that these families are estate workers, not squatters,” he said.
The PSM leader also lashed out at Nong Chik for trying to term the payment as goodwill money.
“The minister said he increased the original offer as a goodwill payment. This is not Terengganu where you can just turn oil royalty to goodwill money. The workers want what is rightfully theirs,” he said.
Arutchelvan also asked why the government was negotiating on behalf of the land owner, Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd.
“We got to know on Wednesday that the land now belongs to Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd, a property developer. So, why is the government negotiating on behalf of a private entity. This is also abuse of power,” he said.
Sharing his views at the press conference, an independent observer Shin Choong Men was sceptical whether the government intended to build a cemetery on the land acquired by DBKL as planned.
“Are you trying to say that a private developer wants to build a cemetary on this valuable piece of real estate?” he asked.
Also present were Suaram coordinator, E Nalini and its estate action committee secretary, S Thiakarajan. - FMT
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