Families cry foul over eviction
The Star 26/4/2005 By FREDERICK FERNANDEZ
SOME 100 families living in Rumah Panjang Jalan Kem and Rumah Panjang KTM
Tiga in Taman Kem, Port Klang, are crying foul over an eviction notice
served on them by the Klang Municipal Council (MPK). They received the
notice on April 4, requiring them to vacate their houses within 14 days.
The residents claim the decision by MPK was unfair as the low-cost flats
they were allocated in Taman Telok Gedong Indah were in a shoddy
condition, with cracks on the floor, termite-infested walls and
construction debris scattered all over the premises.
The residents formed an action committee on Thursday to get MPK and the
state government to honour their promise of giving RM7,000 to each
household as compensation before their houses were demolished.
Committee chairman K. Sakunthala, 43, said it was unfair and inhumane for
MPK to force the residents to vacate the longhouses when the low-cost
flats, about 2kms away, were in a deplorable state.
Residents complaining to Ong and Tee over the eviction notices that they
received from the council recently.
“We are merely asking the authorities to use common sense when
implementing laws and not further punish the poor people who already have
enough sufferings to endure.
“Most of us have lived where we are for almost 24 years and agreed to
resettle when they informed us four years ago that each household would
get RM7,000 if they bought the low-cost flats, priced at RM42,000 in Taman
Teluk Gedong Indah, but until today we have not received the money,” said
Sakunthala.
T. Subramaniam, secretary of the action committee, questioned how MPK
could issue the Certificate of Fitness for the building when there were
cracks on the floors and walls.
“There are cracks all over the building and the termite problem in some of
the units are really cause for concern. How do they expect us to live in
the place when it is unsafe and filthy, with construction debris and
garbage strewn all over the place?” asked Subramaniam.
He said as the regulatory body, MPK should direct the developer to
immediately carry out rectification works on the cracks and other forms of
damage on the building.
Subramaniam said the residents were also facing problems with the banks
after the name of the block housing their units, was changed.
He said his unit was stated as A-02-10 in the Sales and Purchase Agreement
(S&P) and the Loan Agreement, but a few months later the developer issued
a letter stating that my unit would be known as B-02-19 and this is
causing us more problems.
“The banks are asking questions because the address given by the developer
in the S&P was different and that was the address used to approve the loan
agreement. When we approached MPK about this, the council told us to sort
it out with the developer.
“When we approached the developer, they say their hands are tied as it was
MPK which changed the names of the block and unit numbers. We are pushed
here and there like a ball and in the end have become victims again,” said
Subramaniam.
The residents are also burdened with maintenance fees, amounting to nearly
RM900, although no one has moved into the flats yet.
The monthly maintenance fee for each unit is RM45. Apart from that,
residents are also charged RM45 for the sinking fund and another RM45.50
as fire insurance.
Sakunthala said most of the residents received their keys in March 2004
but were unable to move in because the CF letter from the developer, dated
Jan 26, only reached them in early February.
“MPK had issued the CF on Sept 15, 2004, but the developer only informed
us in January this year. Then the developer issued a bill to the residents
last week stating that we owe them outstanding maintenance fees close to
RM900,” said Sakunthala, questioning the rationale for charging
maintenance fees for more than a year when none of the residents had moved
in due to the cracks and termite problems in the building.
The committee sought the assistance of state DAP chairman Ong Chee Keng
and DAP Pandamaran branch chairman Tee Boon Hock to highlight their woes
to the authorities. |
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