Kampung Baru residents heartbroken over eviction notice near Ramadan

 

Amid the hustle and bustle of Ramadan preparations, the residents of Pangsapuri Sungai Baru in Kampung Baru were shocked to receive eviction notices three days before the start of the fasting month.

When contacted, a resident representative said he had not yet received full compensation for the eviction but was still forced to vacate his house.

“The flat residents were notified of the K forms (eviction notices) on March 22. But the form only reached the hands of the residents on April 1.

"The problem is, when the residents received a notice on April 1, it was three days before the start of fast. Should this letter have been issued during a time when the residents are celebrating Ramadan?" the representative who wished to only be identified as Ibrahim lamented.

He said that residents should be given due time and a discussion involving all parties needs to be held before forcing them to vacate their homes.

They were ordered to do so as part of the Kampung Sungai Baru land acquisition process for a redevelopment project which started in 2016 involving 67 units of terrace houses and 14 apartment blocks (264 apartment units) known as Pangsapuri Sungai Baru.

Compensation too low

Last July, residents received a letter under Section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 which forced them to leave the land with provided compensation.

However, the residents, especially the occupants of the terrace houses did not agree with the compensation rate of RM400 per square foot - which was set by the Federal Territory Lands and Mines Office.

To date, 37 terrace house residents have disagreed with the compensation rates, while 27 other occupants agreed to the offer.

Kampung Sungai Baru Kuala Lumpur Property Owners Welfare Association chairperson Zulfakar Wahib said that almost 85 percent of the flat residents have agreed to move.

However, Ibrahim denied Zulfakar's statement and called it incorrect.

"Generally, the residents are ready to move if they are given appropriate compensation.

“We were told that the value of the land here is around RM1,000 to RM1,500, but the offer is only RM400 (per square foot).

“When we asked for a discussion, they used the gazette to forcibly evict us,” he said.

Last Wednesday, residents received an eviction notice which they claimed asked them to vacate their homes within 42 days.

Letter to FT minister

Kampung Sungai Baru Terrace House Owners Action Committee chairperson Lily Suzana Kudari said terrace house residents had sent a letter to Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim to withdraw the Section 8 gazette on terrace houses.

Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim

"We wrote a letter to the minister to withdraw the gazetting of Section 8 on terrace houses. There was a precedent and it happened during former premier Najib Abdul Razak's time.

"We want to appoint an independent appraiser to appraise our properties to prove that the evaluation by the Valuation and Property Services Department is very low," she told Malaysiakini.

According to Lily, the letter was written on March 22.

She added that they intend to work with the Malaysian Land Professionals Organisation (Pertama) on the matter.

"We will ask Pertama to value our properties and conduct a social impact study on the owners from the impact of the redevelopment," she said. - Mkini