BUKIT Kiara longhouse residents have accused “powerful and elite” residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) of preventing them settlers from getting new homes by protesting the redevelopment of Taman Rimba Kiara.

Bukit Kiara Public Housing Residents Association chairman V. Sunderam, in a statement today, said the longhouse residents’ worries were renewed over the recent war of words between Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and lawyers over the amount of compensation to be paid to the developer if the project were stopped.

Sunderam said longhouse dwellers had waited more than 36 years to get new homes, but were faced with “prejudicial objections” raised by the TTDI residents association as well as Yeoh to scrap the entire project, which will include 350 units of affordable houses for Bukit Kiara longhouse residents, besides eight blocks of 50-storey high-end condominiums.

“It saddens us that all the parties have completely ignored us and our existence.

“We appear to be the less significant than the trees and joggers in Bukit Kiara estate. Joggers talk about a track to run on, while we are just asking for a roof over our heads.

“We, the pioneer settlers…, were forced to be relocated to longhouses due to massive development in TTDI, where all of you are residing and enjoying now.

“It is rather unfair for you now to sideline us and go all out to stop us from getting our permanent homes,” Sunderam said.

The longhouse residents, like Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad, are supportive of a scaled-down version of the project that would leave 6.9ha or 17 acres of the existing Taman Rimba Kiara untouched for use as a public park.

Sunderam said this amount of land should satisfy TTDI residents and joggers and accused them of being unable to compromise.

“TTDI residents want a complete victory and do not want to compromise after meeting the joint working committee involving all parties.

“The rich and powerful TTDI residents just want the project to be completely scrapped and do not want poor people like us to stay in their elite neighbourhood.” 

He urged the Pakatan Harapan government to be decisive, noting that the high court in November had upheld the validity of the project’s development order in dismissing the TTDI residents’ bid to overturn it.

Khalid in recent days he has come under fire for stating that Kuala Lumpur City Hall would have to fork out RM150 million if the project at Taman Rimba Kiara was not allowed to continue.

The minister has defended himself, saying “easy for laymen to talk” without bearing the consequences of contractual agreements. 

In another bid to stop the project, TTDI residents together with anti-graft group Centre to Combat Corruption and Collusion (C4) recently submitted more findings into the redevelopment of Taman Rimba Kiara, which they have said was riddled with irregularities and conflict of interests under former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

Sunderam said the Master Resettlement Agreement the longhouse families had signed with Yayasan Wilayah Perseketuan in 2015 stipulated that affordable housing would be built for the first generation of settlers, while the second generation could purchase similar units at a discounted rate.

The new housing would also be built on the site longhouse.

The settlers comprise about 100 families of Indian rubber estate workers who were relocated to make way for TTDI’s development in 1982.

Sunderam also said the longhouse residents were disappointed with Yeoh, the Segambut MP, whom he said was “more concerned about her political career fighting for only the rich TTDI residents and ignoring) the homeless families like us here.” – March 28, 2019.