The planned demolition of several buildings at Jinjang Selatan Tambahan, Segambut, has been postponed following talks with local residents.

About 40 Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had turned up at the village at about 10am this morning to carry out the eviction and demolition works, together with a group of police personnel and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) technicians.

Awaiting them at the village since this morning was about 40 villagers led by Jinjang Selatan Tambahan Social Development Association chairperson Karuppiah Palaniandy, Jinjang Selatan Tambahan residents group spokesperson Ameer Khan Bakar, and village head A Ponnampalam.

Also present were Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists led by the party’s central committee member S Arutchelvan who argued on the residents’ behalf, and a delegation of observers from the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) headed by Suhakam commissioner Lok Yim Pheng.

After a few hours of back-and-forth negotiations, the DBKL enforcers inspected the nine workshops and houses that were slated for demolition today and agreed to stand down. In at least one case, the owner of a workshop agreed to vacate the premises within two weeks.

Speaking to reporters later, Karuppiah said the residents want the demolition to be put on hold pending a response from Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

He said the residents are seeking a better compensation and the legal paperwork that would ensure that the terms of the compensation would be followed through. The redevelopment of the area would involve the relocation of 525 residents living in an area spanning 115 acres.

“They (DBKL) have agreed (to postpone), so now they are surveying the area and taking pictures. We are not trying to stop development; we just want better compensation.

“The minister has promised a fair compensation. We had given him a memorandum and the minister agreed, so now we are waiting to discuss with the minister.

“We have met (the minister) in February, and he said (he’d get back) after Hari Raya. I was told the agreement we were given had many mistakes, so we need to get a more reasonable agreement between the residents and the developer,” he said.

He added that the nine buildings originally slated for demolition today had not previously appealed against their eviction, leading to today’s operation.

Karuppiah’s lawyer Paul Aisu (photo) said the residents will be making a counteroffer to the developer’s compensation package after the residents discuss the matter in a meeting today.

Karuppiah told Malaysiakini that the Jinjang Selatan Tambahan residents had been resettled there from Batu Caves, Kepong Baru, and Jalan Ipoh by the Selangor state government in 1969.

He said they were issued temporary occupancy licenses and were promised full land titles, but the deal fell through when Kuala Lumpur was alienated from Selangor and came under federal government control in 1973.

Meanwhile, Suhakam’s Lok (photo) lauded the residents and DBKL for settling the disagreements calmly and in a proper manner.

She expressed hope that the longstanding issue would be resolved amicably soon.

“The developer dealing with them should give them proper legal documents for them to sign,” she said, adding that the terms should be explained to them clearly.

When contacted, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said the land belongs to DBKL, which has a privatisation agreement with the developer Zil Land Sdn Bhd.

“As with any other DBKL land like Kampung Pandan Cheras and many others that have squatters, the squatters would have to accept the resettlement offer.

“Failure to move would result in enforcement action by DBKL. The same applies to other projects in the federal territory; there is no difference,” he said.

Malaysiakini has also contacted DBKL enforcement department director Ab Salim Mansor for more information and is awaiting a response.