Kampung Railway residents, who were nearly forced out of their homes two months ago, today ignored YTL Corporation's court injunction and celebrated what may be their last Deepavali together with PKR MPs in attendance.

Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (SRSB), a YTL developer for the Sentul area in Kuala Lumpur, has ownership of the land according to a court order last year, which ordered some 140 families squatting in the area to evict.

tian chua at kampung railway residents protest Some residents, however, argued that their ancestors were railway workers there and their families have lived in the area for over 100 years until the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) land was privatised to YTL Corporation in 1993.

Despite the injunction, the organisers, however, say they want the residents to enjoy a Deepavali cum Batu constituency open house.

Batu MP Tian Chua ( above, left ) attended the event, together with other PKR parliamentarians such as R Sivarasa, N Surendran, William Leong and Wong Chen.

"We are not trying to stop the festivities of any community," said Mohd Said Bani, a spokesperson for SRSB.

"If they want to have an occasion on a private land ... the law, common courtesy or manners says that they should ask permission but they didn't."

azlan Mohd Said confirmed that SRSB obtained a court order yesterday instructing the removal of tents and canopies put up a few days ago for the celebration.

He said the tents were also obstructing the work flow of SRSB's cement batching plant .

He added that SRSB has tried to be diplomatic and has in fact sat down and negotiated with many residents for an out-of-court settlement to compensate those affected by the eviction, but many refused to budge.

Fight to stay goes on

PKR vice-president Tian Chua has been fighting on behalf of the residents and stepped up protests since September.

Against demolition threat, they have refused to vacate their homes as temporary housing have yet to be finalised by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and many claimed they may end up homeless.

"It is private land but since many have not come to an agreement to move, we are hoping that YTL can consider letting the residents have a simple Deepavali celebration," Vinesh Nair, PKR Batu communications manager said. "We will even clean up the place afterwards."

kampung railway residents protest He added that they were not picking a fight with the developer and hoped that the police would  show empathy and hold off intervening in the event despite the SRSB court order.

When asked if SRSB wanted the police to stop the gathering, Mohd Said said they procured the court order after perceiving that it was more than a celebration.

"You should go there and look at the banners and posters that they have put up... it is not about a Deepavali celebration, it is protesting against our plant, and for the squatters," he said.

"They are intimidating people ... they could have asked permission but didn't."

Vinesh, however said that the organising committee for the event had also sent an invitation to YTL to attend the function.

Later, after the party at about 5pm, Vinesh said that the celebrations went off smoothly.

     

"We had a good event, good food, everything good ... the police were around but there was no trouble," he said.