Pandamaran Villagers Urged To Stay Home Or Risk Houses Demolished

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Residents of Kampung Papan in Pandamaran, Klang, have been advised to stay home or risk having their houses demolished by developers, following eviction notices served earlier this week.
The advisory was issued following a meeting between Kampung Papan resident representatives, Pandamaran MP Tony Leong, PSM, and state housing and culture exco Borhan Aman Shah to discuss the fate of the village homes.
During the meeting, it was decided that only empty houses in the village would be demolished beginning Oct 27, prompting the advice for residents to stay put from Monday to Wednesday to avoid losing their homes.
“He (Borhan) has requested the developer to only tear down empty houses. If anyone is at home, they will not proceed.
“We cannot assure that nothing will happen, so I advise all residents to be in their homes from Monday to Wednesday,” Leong said, addressing the worried residents who have gathered outside the state secretariat building in Shah Alam.
The residents had previously succeeded in obtaining temporary injunctions to halt the demolition of about 48 houses that are part of a legal dispute against the eviction, which is pending at the Court of Appeal.
On Oct 21, however, they were served new eviction notices demanding they vacate their homes by the end of the week to make way for the scheduled demolition.
Apartment as replacement
PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan said that the state government had agreed to provide alternative housing for affected residents, claiming that they would be offered apartments at half the market price that would be built on the site.
“The apartments will be approximately 1,000 to 1,500 square feet, so they are not classified as low-cost housing.
“The exact price is still unknown, but residents will only need to pay half, with the developers covering the rest.
“Because the apartments will be constructed on the land residents currently occupy, we will need to work with the state government to coordinate the relocation process,” he said.
State exco Borhan Aman Shah (third left) receiving a memorandum from Kampung Papan residents, along with PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan (right) todayAccording to the residents’ memorandum to the state government, the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTES) decided in 2018 that the residents should be offered two-story terrace houses at a sale price of RM99,000.
However, the plans did not materialise. Instead, Arutchelvan said development will be managed by a subsidiary company under the Selangor government, with details still being finalised.
He also claimed that the Selangor government will conduct a study to determine the feasibility of building the housing, and PSM has called on the developer to work out the details with the affected residents.
“We are asking the developer to figure out the details for the residents. Once we reach a consensus, we will request the land titles before asking residents to move out,” Arutchelvan added.
Offer not enough
Prior to the meeting, Kampung Papan residents and PSM staged a protest today in front of the Selangor State Secretariat Building to hand over a memorandum to Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, urging him to intervene and halt the demolition scheduled for next week.
Many residents expressed frustration, saying that despite repeated meetings with state and local representatives, they have yet to receive any official documents guaranteeing relocation or compensation.
Kampung Papan residents protesting outside the Selangor State Secretariat Building todayTeoh Ah Guat, 63, who has lived in Kampung Papan for over 30 years, said her family has nowhere else to go.
“We’ll only move out if we get an official letter of promise. We don’t have another place to live.
“The developer never met us, never discussed anything, and we were told nothing about what would be built,” she said.
Another resident, who asked to be identified only as Low, said the compensation offered was insufficient.
“RM7,000 is not enough. We want house-for-house replacement.
“We don’t even know what kind of housing will be built, where the land is, or how big the new homes are. There’s no information at all,” she said.
Nathan Marimuthu, whose parents have lived in the village for 50 years, voiced similar concerns.
“This is my parents’ home. They’ve been here half a century, and now we’re told to leave without any black-and-white guarantee. We just want a replacement home,” the 55-year-old said
Nathan added that the residents previously met the menteri besar but were only told the matter would be discussed with the developer.
Decades-old village
According to the memorandum shared with Malaysiakini, Kampung Papan residents have a long history in the village, having lived there since 1939.
Initially, they were granted temporary occupation licences (TOL) by the authorities, but in 2004, the Selangor state government tasked TPPT Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Bank Negara Malaysia, with the responsibility of providing relocation.
TPPT was allocated about 77ha of land to develop housing, including alternative homes for Kampung Papan settlers.
However, TPPT later sold the land to Melati Ehsan, who promised to build replacement units for the residents. Despite this, a group of residents received eviction notices from the developer while negotiations on replacement housing units were ongoing.
This prompted some residents to mount a ongoing legal challenge against the eviction.
Melati Ehsan has yet to respond to Malaysiakini’s queries last month about its move to evict Kampung Papan residents. - Mkini

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