A group of workers from the Coalfield oil palm plantation in Sungai Buloh are decrying the management’s tactics to 'force' them to vacate their houses.

NONE Spokesperson Lobat Rajoo said water and electricity supply have been cut to the quarters occupied by 25 families even though negotiations are pending over the eviction order.

"We have had to resort to bathing in the river," he told reporters, after he and other affected workers held a meeting with leaders of the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) in Petaling Jaya.

He claimed that a further source of frustration was that utility supplies remain connected to some of the vacated houses.

The group had been told to move out by Dec 1, as the site has been earmarked for commercial development.

The families have been offered low-cost housing units near the estate, but are unable to purchase these for various reasons.

NONE Following this, the management reassigned them to the Tuan Mee Estate, some 7km away, where they will be given houses.

Lobat said many in the group are third-generation estate workers and resisting relocation because of the costs that will be incurred. For example, their children will have to travel a longer distance to attend school.

Malaysiakini made several phone calls to the Coalfield estate manager’s office to seek comments, but these went unanswered.

'State did try to help'

Selangor exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar, who oversees estate workers' affairs, said the state has tried to intervene, even though the matter involves an industrial dispute.

However, some of the workers, including Lobat’s group, do not qualify for bank loans to buy the low-cost houses.

NONE He denied allegations that Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the state representative for the area, has ignored the plight of the affected workers.

"Khalid has met them twice - once at his office and once on the ground," said Jayakumar ( right ), when contacted.

Hindraf activists and Malaysia Consumer Advisory Association president Varatharajoo Murugan, who accompanied the workers to the NUPW office, had earlier alleged that the state government has not been helpful to the group.

Bail out the poor, not rich