After months of sleeping under makeshift tents, residents of the Taman Permata Dengkil flats who refused to return to their units fearing the blocks will collapse have finally received word that the federal government will build new houses for them.

A posting on the residents' Facebook page says the Housing and Local Government Ministry has issued a letter agreeing to build the houses on 30 acres of land earmarked by the Selangor government.

“This is the fruit of the struggles by the former estate workers,” the post says, referring to the residents, mostly evicted estate workers, who were hastily moved to the poorly-built flats to make way for the construction of Putrajaya in 1999.

According to the letter dated Jan 7, the ministry views the land, which now belongs to Sime Darby Bhd, as suitable for the construction of 400 single-storey houses.

The state government, which proposed the parcel of land to the ministry, is now tasked with acquiring it from Sime Darby.

Last June, a loud sound and tremors prompted residents of Block 5 of the flats to scramble out of their homes.

Cracks then appeared on the walls and pillars of the block, causing residents to opt to stay in makeshift tents just across the street.

The residents, mostly former estate workers, claimed they were moved to the flats temporarily in 1999 and that they had paid downpayments for low-cost terrace houses, but these houses never materialised.