PKR vice-president N Surendran has charged police of power abuse when they arrested residents in Kampung Railways for resisting eviction.

 

"The police are government by the Police Act 1967 and no where in the law does it allow police to assist housing developers to evict residents," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

He added that the police may only act if a crime had been committed.

" My question to the inspector-general of police and home minister is what crime had been committed that allowed them to arrest seven residents?" said Surendran ( left ), who is Padang Serai MP and a practising lawyer.

He was referring to the arrest of seven individuals, including a 16-year-old, when they attempted to prevent the demolition of their homes in Kampung Railways on boxing day.

Surendran said the authorities could cite the residents for contempt of court if they refused to abide by the eviction order but had no power to arrest them as no crime had been committed.

Also present at the press conference was Batu MP Tian Chua who played a video of the incident.

The video showed a tense stand-off involving police, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers and the residents in front of a house as the authorities attempted to move in.

'Minor arrested, old woman bruised'

There was a lot of shoving and shouting before several villagers were held and pinned to the ground.

"Among those arrested was a 16-year-old boy and a 68-year-old woman also suffered bruises on her hands and legs during the scuffle," said Tian Chua.

They were taken at around 4pm on Dec 24 and released at 10pm the same day, he said.

Tian said that the remaining villagers in Kampung Railways only received their compensation letters a day before Christmas and were asked to vacate their homes within another two days.

"We only asked them (authorities and developer) to spare three homes while they demolished the rest so that the remaining families could process the paper work and have time to move out but these simple requests on humanitarian grounds were denied.

"They were treated like criminals and acted on roughly," he said, adding that it was regretful that police were more concerned about following the developer' bidding.

Chua said those involved in the stand-off will today lodge police reports for wrongful arrest.

They were the last of some 30 families of KTM workers’ descendants who received settlement over the development of Kampung Railways.  A total 150 families were affected.

He added that the remaining residents did not intend to delay their depature but the temporary PPR housing in Bukit Jalil is yet to be suppliedwith water and electricity.

'Victimising residents' for legal action

Tian Chua also accused Deputy Federal Territories Minister Dr J Loga Bala Mohan of attempting to victimise the remaining 30 families who had fought the eviction up to the Federal Court before achieving a settlement.

Yesterday a Bernama report, quoted Loga as saying that the residents who had fought the case in court will not receive full compensation, citing city hall procedures that state that it is not for those who lose court cases.

Under the full settlement, residents will be allowed to live in a People's Public Housing  (PPR) units in Bukit Jalil rent-free for three years after which they will be offered low-cost houses in Sentul at RM42,000 per unit and will also be given compensation of RM18,000.

However, Loga ( left ) said those who fought the matter in court will only be offered a PPR unit in Bukit Jalil for which they have pay rental of RM124 a month.

"You cannot divide and rule people and say this group gets compensation and this other group doesn’t get compensation. It must be offered to all.

"Going to court is a citizen's right," said Tian Chua, who is also a PKR vice president.

He added that it was the developer YTL Corporation which took the residents to court, forcing them to defend themselves.

Furthermore, Tian Chua said the government needed to put the compensation terms in black and white to ensure that it does not go back on its word when a new federal territories minister takes over.

The Kampung Railways issue emerged in 1994 when Sentul Raya, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation, announced the construction of 3,000 units of low- and medium-cost houses, two multi-purpose halls and a football field in the area.

The villagers there are descendent of Kereta Api Tanah Melayu (KTM) workers. The land was previously owned by KTM before being sold off for development.

Also present at the press conference were Wangsa Maju MP Tan Kee Kwong, Batu PAS chief Ishak Surin and PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya and her deputy S Jayathas.