Sixty-nine villagers from Kampung Berembang, Ampang waiting for a court decision on whether a developer can claim ownership of their land were told their file "could not be found".

They therefore have to return on Dec 14 for Shah Alam judicial commissioner Mariana Yahya's decision.

Permodalan Nasional Selangor Bhd (PNSB), through their joint-venture agreement partner Perspektif Masa Sdn Bhd, had applied for a summary possession of the land.

A summary judgment which was to be delivered today would mean a decision could be made without going into a full trial.

The villagers are seeking to set aside the application on grounds that they have triable issues to raise in relation to PNSB's contention that the latter is the owner of the said land.

They are also seeking to set aside an ex-parte injunction obtained by PNSB in February preventing the residents from interfering with clearance works on the land.

Kampung Berembang residents assert they had lived on the land since the 1960s with the consent of the Selangor state government and thus should be compensated in the event the land is acquired for development.

They cited the setting up of an Umno Kampung Berembang branch as well as the provision of electricity, a surau (prayer hall), a multi-purpose hall, and other amenities by the authorities to back their claims for proper compensation.

On Nov 17 last year - one week after an eviction notice was served on the residents - officials of the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), riot police, and civil defense corp Rela forcibly demolished several of the houses at Kampung Berembang.

Despite an appeal, demolition works recurred on Nov 20 and Nov 30, 2006. By March 7, 2007, the private developer had reduced the 30-year-old settlement to a rubble.

The villagers have also filed a suit has been filed against MPAJ for what the residents claim were invalid eviction notices served under the Emergency (Clearance of Squatters Regulation) Ordinance 1969.

Mulling police report

After waiting more than two hours this morning for their case to come up - about 50 were present today - their lawyer Edward Soh was finally summoned at about 10:30am into Mariana's chambers along with the counsel for Perspektif Masa.

About 15 minutes later, Soh came out and told the anxious residents decision had to be adjourned to December because "the file could not be located" in the court registry.

Shocked at the development, several of the residents said they did not understand how a file could be misplaced so easily.

"How can this happen? How can they just lose a file like that?" asked one resident.

"I have no idea. No idea," said Soh in reply.

"She (Mariana) hasn't read it yet. They're still looking for it. It's not misplaced. It's in the registry somewhere," he added.

Kampung Berembang spokesperson Noralizan Ali, 44, also voiced concern at the court's explanation.

"Why did they say they could not find it? If they were to decide today, they would have had the file a long time ago," he told Malaysiakini.

"Tak logik. Tak logik langsung (It doesn't make sense at all)," said another resident.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary-general S Arutchelvan, meanwhile, said the residents are mulling lodging a police report over how a "mind-boggling" incident such as this could happen in a court system touted by the government as being "first-class".

"So many villagers have come here. They have been staying in tents under high-tension wires since their houses were demolished in March. Now they have to endure the problem even longer because of this 'lost file'," he said.