More than 100 residents speaking to the media after a meeting with DBKL, chaired by Loga Bala, to find out the status of the remaining residents who have not received their housing units.
THE authorities say less than 200 families living in the dilapidated Jinjang Utara longhouses are waiting for the housing promised to them as compensation for their relocation, but residents claim there are more.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL)has also denied housing to 73 of the families, raising concerns among the longhouse residents.
According to Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Loga Bala Mohan, only 195 families remained with 84 approved for public housing units.
“They gave two lists with almost 195 people; the first list with 81 names, out of which only 31 got approvals to purchase units at the PPR and the other 50 were rejected for various reasons.
“Just because they rent there (the longhouse), it does not make them eligible,” he said.
A resident of over 20 years, Mikhael Iskhandaar, said there were more than 195 families who deserved the compensation.
“We stay here and our calculations show that there are at least 200 families, but DBKL says otherwise.
“We have been tossed around for the past 25 years when we were meant to stay at the longhouse for only five and now, we are living like goats in a pen even though we have been paying maintenance fees.
“We welcome the Deputy Federal Territories Minister, who said he would visit the site to examine and explain the situation to the other residents,” he said.
Mikhael added that the residents would look into the reasons DBKL had given for the rejections and reconsult them.
“Our main goal is to resolve the issue and provide a roof over the heads of longhouse residents as promised, but if nothing is done, then we will have to go to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission with our case,” he said.
The original settlers moved in to the longhouse more than 25 years ago and were previously assured of a place in the newly built People’s Housing Project (PPR) Seri Aman.
A thousand units in PPR Seri Aman were allocated to the residents and by September 2017, 634 families moved in, while another 145 families only received their unit numbers, but not the keys.
