RESIDENTS of an old Malay village in Kuala Lumpur are urging city hall (DBKL) and a housing developer to be transparent with their census and compensation programme, after dozens of residents have been left in the dark over their residential status.

Kg Chubadak Tambahan residents in the heart of the city told The Malaysian Insight they have yet to receive an offer from local developer, Sentul Murni, to own a low-cost apartment after the developer bought the land they live on for development.

At a meeting in Kg Chubadak Tambahan this morning, some villagers revealed that Sentul Murni offered them low-income housing programme (PPR) units instead of the choice of an apartment in the main development.

“All we want is a transparency and justice. We are all the original people of Kg Chubadak Tambahan.

“We want the developer to listen to us. We are not against any development, but we are entitled to receive proper compensation,” said village chief Shaikh Mahsur.

“Many of us here have yet to receive an offer.

“Those who have are only being offered a PPR unit, not the apartment promised to us previously.

“Some families have received three PPR housing units for one family. There are a lot of discrepancies which need to be addressed,” he said, adding that the offer was supposed to be one unit per family.

Kg Chubadak Tambahan was established in 1963, before Kuala Lumpur became a federal territory.

In 1993, the then Barisan Nasional government handed the land to Pemaju STLR, which was then renamed Sentul Murni.

Residents had previously applied for land certificates from the Selangor government from 1963 to 1972.

There are 190 residents in the village, which is now surrounded by high-rise apartment and condominium complexes.

Nor Sakiela Mat Sukur, a second-generation resident, said majority of the people in the village were not against development.

“The problem now is with the settlement. There are a lot of discrepancies. The census programme was not transparent.

“There are families who get three housing units, while some did not get any. How can this be?” she said.

Resident Mohd Furhan said he has yet to receive an offer.

“I have been here for 39 years. My parents are from here. I grew up here, but I haven’t received any justice. They want to develop the area and we have to move out but there is no compensation.”

“When I asked DBKL, they said my name is on the list of recipients but I still have not received an offer letter,” he said.

Kg Chubadak Tambahan is in a flood prone area and has no proper sanitary facilities, including drainage.

Foreign nationals, especially Indonesians, have also lived in the area for years and have assimilated with the local population.

Veteran activist Ishak Surin, who was also present at the meeting, urged the villagers to unite in making their demands.

He said the only way for the developer to listen to the villagers was by them sticking together.

“If one family did not get a housing unit, the residents as a group must not accept any.

“We have to stay united. This is a struggle for each and every one of us. Justice is meant for everyone not just for certain quarters,” said Ishak, who is better known as Cikgu Ishak Surin.

Batu MP P. Prabakaran said he made several approaches to deal with the developer when Pakatan Harapan was in power, but since the new government takeover, efforts to negotiate have become more difficult.

“What we want is a negotiation. When PH was in power, we spoke to the then Federal Territories minister and the mayor. There was room for meetings.

“We did our own census, led by my team and the people in Kg Chubadak, we submitted it but in the end, they did not use the data we collected.

“It is very disappointing that the plight of the people here is not being taken seriously,” he said. – August 23, 2020.