Another reprieve for ex-estate workers
Some 60 former workers of Ladang Bukit Jalil have had their latest eviction order postponed, following a demonstration at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya this morning.
They were due to vacate their quarters on Dec 27, but now have until Jan 15 to do so.
Parti Socialis Malaysia secretary S Arutchelvan (left in photo), who negotiated with the authorities on their behalf, cautioned though that core issues have yet to be resolved.
“The authorities only reacted to postpone the deadline, but we are asking them to relocate all the people (to decent housing) and resolve the issue of compensation before the houses are demolished,” he said.
“We urge them to quickly arrange a meeting between DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall), the Human Resources Ministry and estate workers to sort out the matter.”
Earlier, the estate workers and family members had held a demonstration to demand a resolution, carrying placards reading ‘No discussion before demolition’, and ‘DBKL, don’t be a Napoleon’.
Aruchelvan led the crowd in chanting “we want our rights”, before police arrived a few minutes later.
Arutchelvan and six others were allowed to enter the office, where the premier’s secretary Mohd Amir Harun met them and received their memorandum.
Request for houses
In the document, those concerned urged the authorities to recognise them as former estate workers and not look on them as squatters.
“Deputy Fede
ral Territories Minister S Saravanan has told us that the Emergency Ordinance (EO) cannot be used against estate workers. Hence, any eviction order using the law should be deemed as null and void,” they said.
They also requested that a terrace house be given to every household, as was done for former workers of Ladang Kinrara.
Mohd Amir then issued a letter assuring that action would be held back, and instructing DBKL to postpone the demolition of the 41 houses located on land that has been earmarked for a cemetery.
S Thiakarajan (right), who is treasurer of the residents' group, said that DBKL's way of handling the issue has shown that "living people are not as important as dead people".
"Since this issue came up, we have never been called for a meeting or a discussion," he claimed.
Ladang Bukit Jalil was sold by the Bukit Jalil Estate Agency to DBKL in the 1980s and ceased operations in 1994.
Since 2007, DBKL has issued several eviction letters under the EO to the former workers.
Last month, Kuala Lumpur mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail had kicked the ball to the Human Resources Ministry, saying that issues pertaining to ex-estate workers are not under his purview.
