KUALA LUMPUR – It is wrong to label the other 114 families in Kampung Sri Makmur, Gombak as outsiders when they have been living there for 20 to 30 years.
As the second and third generation of residents, they claimed they have the right to be compensated after being forced to move out of their houses to give way to the construction of a condominium.
Mohamad Azhar Ariff, 34, who is representing the group, said it is irresponsible for them to be called outsiders when they had lived in the area between 20 and 30 years.
Speaking to Scoop, he said they want compensation from developer Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) in the form of a house and RM10,000 for each family to cover the cost of moving and finding a transit home.
“We will claim (compensation). A lot of us are second and third-generation staying in these houses; the houses here have increased from eight to 114 houses now.
“We have submitted a letter to PKNS on February 9 to inquire about the compensation of RM10,000 for each family as well as a house as compensation.
“But until now we have not received an answer.”
Azhar said the developer should be more considerate because there are a lot of residents who are senior citizens, single mothers, and underprivileged.
He added that the residents can move only if the conditions are found to be “win-win”.
In the meantime, the Chairman of the Persatuan Perantau Sri Makmur Action Committee (PPSM), Noora Mustafa said only 23 families are eligible for compensation because they were the original residents of Kg Sri Makmur.
She said the other residents were not eligible for compensation because they were outsiders who had purchased the land and built their houses there.
“When the first notice was issued in 2020, I collected the names of the original residents and did not include the names of residents who had purchased the land and built their houses there (later) because they knew that there were no grants to the land, but they still built their houses there.
“They then claimed that the Selangor government does not want to help.”
She also said there was a message that had gone viral on WhatsApp groups which claimed that political secretary to the Selangor menteri besar, Rahim Kasdi, helped in the eviction process of the villagers and had prepared a lorry.
On this, Noora said Rahim had denied the matter.
“Demolition of the houses will only be done after the process of name selection of those eligible for compensation, and it will be conducted after the Hari Raya,” she said. – February 24, 2024