KUALA LUMPUR – Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) Education Foundation’s offer – albeit with some conditions – for residents to remain on a portion of the Kg Setia Jaya land in Setapak here, still stands amid the uproar over the eviction order.
Harcharan Singh, officer to Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan, said the allocated land is a tentative offer as discussions between all stakeholders must take place, which could lead to other arrangements.
“If (the partial) land is allocated for them, it will be permanent,” he told Scoop.
“The land is a solution given by TARC Education Foundation to the residents, if they agree to accept it.”
He added that the foundation will only be providing land, while the residents’ housing development cost has not been decided.
Harcharan further explained that only verified long-term residents, who originally inhabited the land without legal ownership, would be entitled to live on the allocated space.
For other residents, entitlement would depend on the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision and the approved names.
During a press conference, Zahir said that TARC Education Foundation is open to allowing residents to stay until a resolution for their relocation is found, ready to allocate a portion of the land for home development.
Asked about the number of entitled residents, Zahir mentioned an ongoing census update to prioritise long-term residents, acknowledging changes in generations.
“We have to realise that the long-term residents may have passed away, and the second or third generation is living (there) now,” he said at the village’s surau.
“Several censuses have been done before this by different parties. So, we must update it so that those entitled are given priority, and vice versa.”
Zahir underscored the importance of a fair and updated formula for entitlement and suggested that government intervention in managing the land could ensure fairness.
He also clarified that the optimal scenario would be if the government devises a solution within the 18-month eviction period stipulated by the court.
Zahir also urged Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to expedite approvals for any proposed development solutions due to the time-consuming nature of such processes.
This, he said, was because such processes would be time-consuming, as they require the approval of stakeholders and DBKL.
Earlier today, Zahir had a meeting with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa and TARC Education Foundation’s development representatives.
The newly-minted minister expressed confidence that it would ultimately lead to a solution over the matter.
Earlier this month, the KL High Court ordered Kg Setia Jaya residents to vacate their houses, giving them 18 months to do so, after finding that TARC Education Foundation was the legal owner of the land on which the village stands.
TARC Education Foundation used legal channels to obtain the directive for the villagers to evict the land within 18 months, of which the court order had reportedly affected about 500 residents on the roughly 24 acre parcel of land.
Subsequently, the residents claimed they were being unjustly evicted and poorly compensated. – December 28, 2023