Residents given until after Deepavali to relocate

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THE clock is ticking for the 200-odd poverty-stricken families at the last remaining Indian village in Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur. While their October deadline to relocate approaches, the villagers are still hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel.

Saraswathy Gabriel’s house is falling apart and the makeshift zinc roof constantly leaks after a downpour while the wooden floorboards creak with every step.

Way out: Nagalingam may rely on Socso to pay for his dialysis treatments but the move to Puchong would leave him unable to afford the transport costs.

The 36-year-old shares a room with her husband and three children, aged 10, eight and six, while the other room in the house is taken up by her husband’s brother and his family.

A few doors away, Letchumi Krishnan, 45, shares a house with her husband, mother and four children. The dark and dingy abode looks gloomy and depressing. The floor boards are broken and damp in many places and the window panes are missing. It was almost a similar scene over at the Nagalingam household, where S. Nagalingam lives with his wife and two children.

The village may seem unfit for people to live in, but some 200 squatters have made this place their home for the last 70 years.

The village has been earmarked for redevelopment, and word has it that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will be demolishing it after Deepavali.

While the DBKL has promised that residents would eventually be relocated back to the area, most seem to prefer to live in such squalid condition.

Squalid: Letchumi Krishnan, 45, lives in a rickety structure and hopes for a better house.

When StarMetro visited these families recently, it was discovered that most of these families are living below the poverty line and their biggest concern is being relocated to areas that will burden them financially.

The poverty line income based on the 9th Malaysia Plan considers a family to be poor if it earns below RM720. In the case of Letchumi, the sole bread winner in the family, she works in a garment factory earning RM700 a month.

Her husband is sickly and is unable to keep a job for long. The only reason she is able to survive is because she does not have to pay for rent or transportation.

She walks to work while the children attend a school that is 10 minutes away.

The situation is similar for Saraswathy and S. Nagalingam who both make about RM700 a month.

At least 80% of the families at the village are making less than RM1,000 a month.

Making do: Appaiyah Ramudu, 74, has only a makeshift kitchen to cook meals for her family.

Most of them worry what will happen if they are uprooted to Kampung Muhibbah in Puchong, some 20km away.

The rent and transport fees alone could cripple them financially.

They also argue that the place in Puchong lacks basic facilities like public transport and a government hospital or clinic.

The MIC is trying to find them places at nearby PPR flats but there are only so many units that are available.