A group of former Ipoh City Hall (DBI) workers and their families from Perak staged a picket outside the Housing and Local Government Ministry in Kuala Lumpur today seeking alternative housing.

Some 40 people gathered outside the ministry's premises in Pusat Bandar Damansara at about 10am, carrying placards and banners.

They claimed that DBI had been unresponsive to their housing woes although they had served the council for decades until their retirement.

About 100 families have been occupying DBI quarters in Buntong since before 1957. Some of the retired workers have since built their own huts nearby because they could not afford to move elsewhere.

Promise not kept

Social activist Dr D Jeyakumar said the group was "frustrated" because the Perak government has not kept a verbal promise made during a meeting in February 1999.

The families claimed in a media statement that they had been assured of a parcel of land each in the same area where the quarters are located.

However, the state government told the workers in April 1999 to refer to Ipoh Datuk Bandar Talaat Hussein for the next course of action.

Talaat is said to have told them that an offer for an alternative housing lot would be made in writing. However, the families did not receive this.

Instead in May 2000, the mayor said in a press statement that the workers would not be given the land. DBI has since declined to meet the affected families on the matter.

The ex-workers now fear that they could be evicted from the quarters or their huts because the area has been earmarked for development.

Jeyakumar alleged that DBI has deliberately neglected maintaining the area and that the families were living in unsanitary conditions. Rubbish is not collected and human waste clogs the drains.

"The bucket system is still being used in the communal toilets," he claimed.

Memorandum submitted

After the picket which lasted about 30 minutes , representatives of the group submitted a memorandum to Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui.

They also had a short dialogue with the deputy minister who promised to look into their problem.

One of the workers' representatives, Alexis Taul Raj, told malaysiakini later that the deputy minister said he would seek clarification on the matter.

"He (the deputy minister) is going to send a letter to the Perak Mentri Besar (Mohd Tajol Rosli] together with our memorandum," Alexis said.

Alexis added that Chin also said he would write to the Ipoh mayor for an explanation.