Anxiety turned into alarm for residents of the Bukit Jalil estate this morning when they discovered some of their names were not on the list of those eligible to move into the low-cost flats offered to them by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

Representatives of 56 families had gone to the Taman Muhibbah low-cost public housing project (PPR) neighboring the Bukit Jalil estate to draw lots to determine who would move into which units.

Bandar Tun Razak member of Parliament Tan Chai Ho as well as Umno's Bandar Tun Razak division chief Rahim Baba were present to witness the event.

The residents had reluctantly conceded to take up DBKL's offer to relocate to Taman Muhibbah after initially refusing to vacate their houses as they felt they deserved better compensation and treatment given their decades-long services to and residence on the former rubber plantation.

Given dimming prospects that DBKL would cancel the eviction and demolition notices served on the residents last month, the residents agreed in a meeting on Aug 7 with DBKL to take up the low-cost units.

In the meantime, however, they have appealed to the Federal Territories Ministry for better compensation in return for their relocation.

Regarded as 'squatters'

According to the residents' spokesperson S Thiakarajan, upon their discovery today that some of the families had not been included in DBKL's list, they have all decided not to participate in the lot-drawing exercise until an updated census had been conducted by DBKL.

"While some of the families were not included in the list, there were names among the 45 names that were listed that we do not recognise at all and are actually outsiders," he said when contacted.

Part of the reason for the absence of some names is the that while there are about 30 houses in Bukit Jalil with families residing in them, a number of the houses actually contain two families living under one roof.

"We requested that our MP Tan and Rahim get DBKL to conduct another census. They (Tan and Rahim) promised the matter would be discussed," said Thiakarajan.

The residents - some of whom had lived on the estate for 60 years in houses built for them during British colonial times - have demanded they be given low-cost terrace homes in addition to monetary compensation such as that granted to residents of the former Kinrara estate.

DBKL, however, has not responded positively to this and has not budged from regarding the residents as squatters as opposed to estate residents.

In its eviction notices issued on June 14 and July 16, DBKL had invoked the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 1969 (Clearance of Squatters Regulations).

The authorities' development plans for the estate include a temporary detention centre and a rumored cemetery for the burgeoning Muslim population in Bukit Jalil.