Kampung Berembang villagers want to know why members of the volunteer corp Rela had helped private developers demolish their houses in Kuala Lumpur on March 5.

Today, some 50 villagers together with several activists submitted a memorandum addressed to Rela director-general Zaidon Asmuni asking him to investigate the matter.

Since they were unable to meet Zaidon, the villagers handed the memorandum to his deputy Aris Yusof who promised to look into the matter and give his feedback in two weeks.

Among the complaints in the memorandum were:

- Rela members entered the village in the pretext of distributing court notices to villagers but instead were involved in the demolition exercise.

- They helped the private developers demolish the village.

- They took instructions from the private developers and gave protection to the developers during the demolition.

Photographic evidence

"We also brought along some pictures taken during the demolition. Aris was surprised when he saw the memorandum and pictures," said villager Sabariah Adam when met later.

"Aris said he knew that (land owner) Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd had asked for 150 Rela members to escort lawyers to distribute the court notices, but was not aware that they had assisted the developers in the demolition," she added.

Another villager, Mohd Nazri Hamzah, expressed dissatisfaction with the Rela operation chief who was at the village on the day of the demolition.

"He must know his duties and obligations before carrying out an operation. How can he take instructions from a private developer when he is from a government machinery?" he asked.

"When we confronted him, he seemed to be confused of his own duties," he added.

The villagers demanded that Rela investigate this matter as soon as possible. Failing which, they will turn to the police.