ABOUT 60 families living in Salak Selatan New Village, who are being represented by a pro-tem committee, have hired a lawyer to sue the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) over their status as residents and for their right to receive land titles for their homes.
“This village was established between 1940 and 1952 under the Emergency Ordinance. From the original 800 families that settled here, the village has now grown to comprise about 1,000 families,” Seputeh MCA vice chairman and Seputeh Barisan Nasional information chief Banie Chin Yen Foo said.
Seeking justice: Chin (centre, in orange batik) along with the village heads, sponsors and contributors on stage to receive acknowledgements of their support for the pro-tem committee’s effort against the demolition of some of the houses in Salak Selatan New Village. On the right is Lawrence, the lawyer engaged by the pro-tem committee. About 200 families were issued eviction notices by the DBKL in March this year with a deadline to shift out by June 8.
“These families comprise mostly the children of the original settlers and have lived here their whole lives. They had tried to apply for land titles years ago but were rejected by the DBKL,” Chin said.
He added that sometime during the late 70s, part of the village was separated from the original settlement and renamed Kg Malaysia.
“The residents of Kg Malaysia applied for land titles and got them within a year. The original 800 villagers of Salak Selatan New Village have obtained land titles for their homes as well,” Chin said.
He added that the 200 residents who were given eviction notices felt that they were being treated unjustly.
“Before they started sending out the eviction notices, the DBKL should have held a dialogue with the 13 NGOs in this village, like the Rukun Tetangga, dialect associations and the Dewan Orangramai dan Kebajikan Kg Baru Salak Selatan committee, to discuss the issue,” Chin said.
“The DBKL organised a balloting in May and about 170 families took up the offer of a unit at PPR Desa Petaling and compensation of RM1,000,” Chin added.
Among the 170 families, 60 have had their homes demolished but the remaining families are still living in the village in the hope that they will be able to keep their homes now that a pro-tem committee has been set up to challenge the DBKL.
“If these villagers and their homes are considered illegal under the zero squatters policy, why were electricity and water supply given to them?” Chin questioned during a press conference at a fund-raising dinner held at the Dewan Orangramai dan Kebajikan Kg Baru Salak Selatan.
The dinner was held to raise RM15,000 to pay the remaining outstanding lawyer’s fees.
According to lawyer Vincent Lawrence from Wan Hazidin Lawrence and Associates, the villagers who have engaged him to file the lawsuit are demanding a declaration of their status as residents and land titles for their homes.
“I have issued a notice to the City Hall with a deadline to reply in two weeks’ time. So far, we have not received any answer, but the deadline has not lapsed yet,” Lawrence said.
The Housing and Local Government Ministry commissioned the New Villages Master Plan Village Survey (2002-2003) and has acknowledged 450 new villages nationwide, comprising those set up under the Briggs plan during the 1948-1960 Emergency Ordinance to quell communist activity as well as the pre-Emergency and post-Emergency Chinese villages.
Salak Selatan New Village is one of the 450 and is one of only three new villages within Kuala Lumpur, the others being Jinjang New Village and Ayer Panas New Village.
“On behalf of the villagers, I would like to extend an invitation to Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail and Federal Territories Minister Raja Datuk Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin to come to the village and see for themselves what is happening on the ground,” Chin said.
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