Kg Setia Jaya Villagers Advised To Stay United Fight For Fair Compensation

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Kampung Setia Jaya villagers who are facing eviction are advised to stay united and fight to get fair compensation.
During a talk session today, a former resident of now demolished Kampung Berembang in Ampang shared how his fellow villagers had stood their ground when the government wanted to take over the land for development over 15 years ago.
According to Noralizan Ali, they managed to fight off forced eviction from 2003 until 2007 while engaging in discussions with the government and developer to reach an amicable settlement.
"We have to find an amicable solution and I hope that the (Setia Jaya) villagers will stay united, fight for your rights together," he told some 30 villagers who attended the event held in Kampung Setia Jaya, Kuala Lumpur today.
Noralizan, who came with his wife, was brought by former minister Zuraida Kamaruddin to share his experience with the Setia Jaya folk.
The session was organised by the Kampung Setia Jaya Action Committee.
According to Noralizan, the best settlement they should aim for is to get replacement housing for all affected villagers.
Adding further, he told the audience that despite their houses having been demolished five times, the Kampung Berembang villagers still did not budge.
"Only in 2008 did the attempts to forcefully evict and demolish our houses stop. But we continued to fight off the FRU (Federal Reserve Unit police) and local government officers.
"Some of us were even arrested. We also had to face gangsters (hired to scare off villagers). But we fought them because we were defending our rights," he said.
Noralizan also expressed his disappointment over how the government had been treating those living in squatter areas, where he said many had contributed to the city's development.
Villagers to file appeal
On Dec 19, the Kuala Lumpur High Court in a judgment ordered the villagers to vacate their houses and gave them 18 months to do so.
This came as the court found that Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (Taruc) is the legal owner of the land area where Kampung Setia Jaya stood.
The committee chairperson Noorsham Din (above) said that while they are disappointed with the judgment, the villagers will continue to fight for their rights.
"What we want is a replacement house for each family here, so we can still live in the same area.
"They (Taruc) had promised to provide us with a 2.02ha land for resettlement within this area.
"This was what Taruc representative Yew Teong Look had promised us during our first meeting. The former Wangsa Maju MP also promised us 950 square feet of affordable houses," he said.
However, according to Noorsham, during a recent meeting, the villagers were offered RM30,000 compensation for each house and RM10,000 for moving expenses.
“The amount is not enough for the villagers to find a new home because most of them are from the B40 group,” he said.
Noorsham also expressed the villagers' disappointment in Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan who had allegedly ignored their plight.
"The MP (Zahir) does not even care about us. As an MP, he should have come here (to help mitigate the issue), not wait for us to invite him," he added. - Mkini

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