THE families whose homes were demolished in Kampung Sri Makmur, Gombak must prove they are the original residents of the village to be eligible for resettlement.

Some of the evicted villagers are living in tents in the area until they can find housing. They said they were not given enough time to move out as the eviction notice was followed quickly by demolition.

About 130 houses were demolished by the authorities on Monday.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the state government will consider aid for the families because it is its duty to help the people.

“We are open to re-evaluating what assistance we can provide. But I’m not promising anything; prove yourself, show proof you are original residents entitled to resettlement,” he told Bernama.

“That’s one of the conditions we set. If the prerequisites are not met, the application will be rejected. We have given compensation to 21 families who met the criteria.”

It was reported that only 21 of 153 families living in the village had been allowed to resettle in Rumah Selangorku units. These families also received RM1,000 each.

He said one of the reasons for the swift demolition was the large presence of foreign nationals in the area.

The Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) yesterday said the problem began in July 2006, when some homes in the area were demolished, but a 2016 census found that the number of homes in the area had grown to 204 units compared to 80 in 2006.

PKNS said the land in the village was sold in 2020 and the buyer had obtained a court order in May last year for the demolition of all the structures on the land 

The Selangor government had offered to sell Rumah Selangorku units to the residents at a subsidised price of RM65,000. As a goodwill gesture, it also paid RM1,000 to 21 original squatters whose status was confirmed by the Gombak District Land and District Office.

‘No time to move’

Meanwhile, some of the evicted residents are living in tents in area while they search for housing.

They complained they were not given sufficient notice to move out.

One of them, Amril Muslim, said the eviction notice was served on Friday and their homes were demolished on Monday.

Muhammad Khairul, told MalaysiaNow he and his family were living in a tent behind what remains of their home.

“They turned up and told us they were going to demolish the house. There were many items we could not save,” Muhammad said.

“It’s not cheap to rent a house. If the rent is RM1,000, you must have about RM3,000 to RM4,000 for the down payment and deposit,” he said.

Kampung Sri Makmur, located between Middle Ring Road 2 and the Taman Sri Gombak business centre, consisted of 130 houses that were built in the 1980s.

PKNS has referred to Kampung Sri Makmur as a squatter area, and that the demolition of houses had been ongoing since 2006.

It said the residents had rejected offers of low-cost homes and had instead demanded compensation. – May 31, 2024.