About 600 families in Kampung Medan are appealing to the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council against plans to relocate them to nearby low cost apartments - all because they don't want to pay toll every time they leave their homes.

As such, they want to be resettled at units that will be developed in their present area.

These families have been ordered to leave Kampung Medan by 2005 as the entire place has been earmarked for mixed development. At present these families have been allocated units about two kilometers away from their present location.

"They do not want to move to the apartments allocated for them as it will be at the other side of the newly-build tolled highway," said activist Kana Sabaratnam of Athma, a group that conducts social work at Kampung Medan.

The highway - New Pantai Highway - links Petaling Jaya to Kuala Lumpur and cuts through Kampung Medan and a host of other squatter areas. The highway is expected to be ready by next year and there are three toll centers.

However the one that causes much worry for the Kampung Medan residents is the toll center in Kampung Medan interchange, which will be situated in between their present location and the newly allocated apartments.

Temple and wedding hall

With schools and kindergartens located close by to their present homes, these residents will have to pay toll every time they send their children there, said Kana.

"Its not only for schools. Most of the residents are factory workers and their factories are located at this side of the toll. Thus essentially every time they come out of their new apartments to carry on with the normal daily routine, they will have to pay the toll," he added.

But according to a resident, paying toll is not the only problem.

The resident, who did not want to be named, said that the newly allocated apartments do not have some basic amenities that they need.

"For example, there is no land allocation for a temple, although initially we were told there will be one. Similarly, there are no community halls or even kindergartens," he added.

The resident said that they have all these amenities in or nearby Kampung Medan and that's another reason why they want the MPPJ to relocate them much closer to their present location.

Kana also added another problem that was faced by a small number of businessmen in Kampung Medan, if they were to move to their allocated units.

"The state policy has been that if you run a grocery store in the old settlement, then you will be provided a ground floor low cost apartment so that you can set up your business there. However this policy is not at work in the case of Kampung Medan residents who run small businesses from home.

"For these people, apartment allocations do not consider their need to set up businesses and they might not get a ground floor unit at all," he added.

Pressed for time

The residents want the MPPJ to take into consideration all these issues and review their appeal to be resettled closer to Kampung Medan, where they will not have to bear the burden of paying toll everyday and at the same time continue to enjoy the basic amenities that's already in place.

The residents want MPPJ to look into the matter with great urgency as they have already been told to apply for loans to purchase the allocated apartment units.

Once the necessary loan paper works are approved, the residents will then have no choice but to move into the allocated apartment units, which will be ready by 2005. A block of low cost apartments are also to be constructed in Kampung Medan by 2005 and this is where the residents want to be relocated.

"In order to make a strong representation to the MPPJ, the residents had a meeting last week and are united in what they want," said Kana.

He added that they have now delegated the local MIC leaders to argue their case before the MPPJ.

When contacted, a MPPJ official said that the residents should not have any problems moving into the allocated apartments, as it is only a few kilometers away from their present location.

"There are other schools and kindergartens in that area and they can transfer their children there,"" he added. However he refused to comment on the toll burden placed on these residents.