Four years on, no new homes in sight for Kg Railway folk

It has been more than four years since former Kampung Railway residents were promised housing by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) but they claim work on the project has not begun.

In Dec 2013, 120 families were promised low-cost apartments within three years following their eviction from their homes.

Not only had the deadline long lapsed, but it appeared that work on their homes had yet begun, said former Kampung Railway resident M Jayanthy, 60.

“It is now 2018, we are still waiting. We are not sure if they are going to build our homes... we really do not know what is happening (with the development).

“Were these just false promises?” she told a press conference today at the service centre of Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, commonly known as Tian Chua.

Residents have received offer letters from DBKL for the low-cost apartments, priced at RM42,000, but have yet to sign any Sales and Purchase Agreements (SPA) with private developer Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd.

Sentul Raya is 100-percent owned by YTL Land.

Checks by Malaysiakini found the plot, located opposite the Sentul market, to be fenced up but no structures were observed to be built on it.

Fellow former resident R Jothikrishnan, 64, added that Deputy Federal Territories Minister Dr J Loga Bala Mohan previously told residents that the land where the low-cost apartments were to be built on was “no longer suitable”.

This is because water and electricity cables were found to be located underground.

“If this is true, why did they hold a ground-breaking ceremony (for our apartments) there in 2015?” Jothikrishnan asked.

At the ceremony, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had apologised to Kampung Railway folk over their housing woes and promised that their homes would be completed within the stipulated time frame.

Tian Chua: Agreement must be fulfilled

Also present at the press conference was Batu MP Tian Chua, who said the government needed to immediately resolve this drawn-out issue.

“We do not want a new minister to come in (after elections) and things like this become forgotten.

“We want the agreement promised to the residents to be fulfilled.

“It is unfair that these residents are denied their rights, and their expectations have been kept in limbo for such a long time,” he said, adding that he expected clear answers from the government when he raises this issue in the March sitting of Parliament.

Kampung Railway, which sits on KTMB land, was inhabited by rail workers since prior to 1957, but their descendants were asked to vacate the land after it was earmarked for development.

Since their eviction, residents have been placed at various People's Housing Projects (PPR) and charged no rent by DBKL.- Mkini