A clash between the residents of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers last Monday saw two houses smashed into rubble, while some managed to escape the demolition after protests from local residents.

DBKL had earmarked six houses for demolition but the residents protested, with several of the houses still occupied and some refused to move out for the meagre compensation offer of RM7,000.

The residents have been staying on the Federal Territory land in Sentul for 30 to 50 years but they were asked to make way for development by DBKL, the Federal Territories Land and Mines Office and developer Sentul Murni Sdn Bhd.

The development is linked to a 2006 plan to develop the former Malay reserve land into a township.

Malaysiakini went to check on Kampung Chubadak yesterday evening, meeting up with a number of residents.

One of them, Jamil (not his real name), showed the Malaysiakini team around the rubble and the houses that have been marked to be demolished.

Two houses were demolished last Monday, after over 100 officers from DBKL, the FT Land and Mines Office and policemen stormed the village to evict the residents, with a Light Strike Force platoon on standby.

“It happened so fast that Monday morning, when I was away at that time. DBKL officers and policemen surrounded the place... the people were afraid and didn’t know what to do,” Jamil said as he recalled the incident.

He said the men and two backhoes, two trucks and several four-wheel drive vehicles appeared without warning that morning, and started moving the belongings of the villagers out of their houses.

“We didn’t have any ownership papers, and so we were told by the officers to move out of our houses immediately,” Jamil said.

‘There are children and a baby in that house!’

Jamil and the villagers managed to stop the officers from demolishing one of the houses  that belonged to Suhaimah Alando, an octogenarian great grandmother who lives with her grandchildren.

On Thursday, PAS lawyer Ahmad Zamri Asaád Khuzaimi intervened and obtained a High Court injunction to stop the demolition of 58 houses in Kampung Chubadak Tambahan.

The court ordered a two-week suspension of the demolition activities. This is pending the case the residents have taken against the developer, which is due to be heard next month.

Jamil said: “We managed to stop the demolition of one of the houses at the end of the road that day. There were small children and a baby in that house. They left, telling the people to move out

“Alhamdullilah, they tried again this morning (yesterday morning)  to tear the house down but they were stopped by the lawyers who came with the court order,” Jamil said, referring to Ahmad Zamri’s assistance to the residents.

‘I was evicted twice, house demolished’

Halim, a 64-year old resident of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan, recalled his experience being evicted on two occasions with his house demolished both times.

The villagers helped him to rebuild the house the first time, but since last Monday, after the second demolition, Halim (left), his wife and their three grandchildren have been living in a make-shift garage in the village.

“I’ve been staying here for years. I have three families with me, including my grandchildren. They’ve been trying to demolish the house eight times since 2013 but I refused to move out.

“I didn’t know what really happened that Monday morning. I was in the kitchen. Someone came up to my door and they said, ‘Quick, quick, you need to move out’,” Halim said. And then the  destruction began.

‘The new house is too small’

Another resident, Abdul Nizam, 60 (right), who has been staying in the village for the past 25 years, said: “I have had no problems all these while, until recently. They gave us the notice of eviction without any compensation.

“They offered us the PPRT (Hardcore Poor Housing Project) units to us. I refused. I have 11 people in my family and it’s too small for us! I’ve seen the place and the unit is too small. There was no electricity supply, only water supply. How are we supposed to live?”

Nizam said the men threw all his belongings outside and demolished his house about a month ago. He then put up a tent where his house once stood and has been living there since.

“They came again, on Monday, and took all my belongings away in a truck, without any notice or court order. When I asked for my belongings, they refiused... they did not even give me a list of what they had taken away,” Nizam said.

Suhaimah Alando nearly lost her house yesterday morning, but she stayed on to protect her house. City Hall officers only managed to demolish part of her house gutter and damaged her door grill as Ahmad Zamry came in the nick of time to present the court injunction.

During the interview, Suhaimah was with her granddaughters and great grandchildren in the house. Seated in a wheelchair, she has difficulty getting around the place and is also bugged by high blood pressure and diabetes.

Suhaimah remains adamant, saying she will not accept any eviction.

“They just came, out of nowhere. They asked me to sign the eviction notice and I refused to sign, no matter what. They didn’t give us anything, promising only a PPRT flat unit, but no keys were given to us.

“I’ve been staying here for 50 years. We built this home. Our old wooden house was gutted in a fire back in 2005 and my husband managed to save some money to rebuild our new house with bricks,” Suhaimah said.

“Oh, at that time, Ya Allah, my house... I don’t have any other possession in life. My husband died years ago, and this is my only property,” Suhaimah poured out her feelings as the developers tried to drive her and the children out of the house yesterday morning.