KUALA LUMPUR: The tussle between Ladang Bukit Jalil residents and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has taken a mysterious turn with the Putrajaya Land office claiming the land did not exist in its records.Independent observer Chin Choong Men said although DBKL, in its affidavit, said the land belonged to the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi), there was no evidence provided to back this.
“The land office told us there are no documents to prove that someone owns the land as the land itself does not exist in their records,” he told a press conference here.
Also present were Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan, Human Rights Party national coordinator K Balakrishnan and the estate’s action committee secretary S Thiakarajan.
On March 14, the 41 families living in the estate obtained an interim injunction to stop DBKL from demolishing their homes after being slapped with eviction notices on March 1.
The court had set April 27 to hear an inter-parte hearing between both parties and the residents would be represented by Lawyers for Liberty coordinator Fadiah Nadwa Fikri and PKR vice president N Surendran.
Residents classified as squatters
Arutchelvan said that DBKL, in its affidavit, also sought to declare the residents as squatter dwellers and its notices on June 2007 to evict them under the Emergency Ordinance as legal.
“The Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Ministry had already told that these people are former estate workers and that is why compensation is being offered.
“Now their legal team is calling them squatters. So who is lying here?” he asked.
In February, Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin had admitted that the residents were former estate workers after a meeting with them.
Arutchelvan also took a swipe at DBKL for giving more consideration to the dead while trying to evict the residents.
“It is stated in the affidavit that the land belongs to Jawi and it is slated to be turned into a cemetary.
“We are disturbed by the fact that the entire 26-acre land is being alloted to the dead. Is it wrong to set aside a four-acre land for the living?” he asked.
Saying that the affidavit contained false information, Arutchelvan urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to intervene and resolve the matter amicably.
