Residents of PJS 1, an area formerly known as Kampung Muniandy in Petaling Jaya, want Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim to find a permanent solution to their housing woes.

NONE The displaced residents, who were affected by the Kampung Medan incident in 2001, are waiting for the promised low-cost flats to be built.

According to the residents' association assistant secretary M Sugumaran, 40 families are living in longhouses nearby PJS 1 while another 120 occupy public housing in Lembah Subang.

Led by Sugumaran, 30 residents today visited the menteri besar's office to hand over a memorandum.

Their memorandum was received by Khalid's principal private secretary Norzaton Aini Mohamad Kassim this morning at 10.45am.

"We won't demolish the longhouses without resolving the problem," she said.

 

Developers want residents out

The residents living in Lembah Subang are currently staying on land allocated for the construction of SRK Taman Medan.

Developers want them out, but the residents are reluctant to leave.

NONE "We will only move if the authorities build us a new place to live," said Sugumaran.

In addition to that, Sugumaran said the residents want the authorities to provide RM500 in aid monthly to pay rent as well as a lump sum payment for every affected family among other demands.

He also complained that residents are left in the dark over decisions taken by the Petaling Jaya city council.

The residents' housing woes began in 2000 when the previous state administration had promised to build low-cost flats, dubbed the Block E flats.

However, the project fell through when an individual from a nearby housing area - Taman Kanagapuram - obtained an injunction against the construction.

When the new Pakatan Rakyat state government came into power, it negotiated for another block of flats - Block F - to be built on Apr 10 last year.

However, no work has been started on the project. The residents, who have obtained loans to purchase the flats, are struggling to settle their loans due to being low-wage earners.