After waiting 14 years and seeing three changes of menteri besar, 72 longhouse residents have had enough - they have lodged a police report to protest the Selangor government's failure to allocate them land for houses.

The group representative S Muniandy lodged the report at the Rawang police station yesterday, following a meeting among themselves to reach consensus to pursue the matter to the end

In their report, they expressed dissatisfaction with Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamad Khir Toyo for telling them last Thursday that they would not be given land, but would have to buy their houses.

At a press conference, they showed a video recording in which Khir Toyo - while at a meet-the-people session in Gombak - insisted several times that "only houses, no land" would be offered to them.

Muniandy, who also heads the Rawang branch of Persatuan Masyarakat and Wilayah Persekutuan, said the decision to reject their claim was made in five minutes.

"Why should we be forced to buy houses?" he asked.

The residents of the Rawang longhouse community were among 292 people who had been evicted from their squatter homes along the Sungai Buloh railway line in 1992. They were promised a piece of land in Matang Pagar, also in Sungai Buloh, to build their own houses.

However, they got no where with the Selangor government which has seen three changes of head to date - Muhammad Muhd Taib, Abu Hassan Omar and Khir Toyo.

Legal claim

In 1996, the residents found that a developer was clearing the Matang Pagar site in order to build low-cost houses. These were to be sold to them at RM17,000 per unit.

They protested to Abu Hassan in 1998. It was later agreed that land would be given to those who wanted it, while low-cost houses would be built only for those who chose to buy them ( right ).

Even as the promise was not fulfilled, the housing project fell into limbo.

In 2000, the residents were surprised when state-owned Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor began building up low-cost houses on the same site.

This time, they were asked to pay RM28,000 per unit. The majority agreed to take up the offer, leaving the 72 who preferred to be allocated plots of land.

"We filed a claim in court in 2000 against the state government, Gombak land administrator and the Gombak land and mines office," Muniandy said.

The case is still pending, so we don't understand why the developer is being allowed to carry on with the project."

He said the group plans to meet soon with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The residents, who are predominantly Indian, also accused the Selangor government of discrimination, alleging that land had already been allocated to those of other ethnic groups.