Feb 1 saw another milestone in Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's development plans when his pet project Putrajaya was officially declared as a Federal Territory.

Amidst the celebrations at the administration capital that day, few would have wondered what is the fate of the plantation workers who, for the past three generations, toiled the land that Putrajaya now occupies.

Less than a kilometre away from Dengkil town, there are five blocks of five-storey flats called Taman Permata, quietly tucked away at the end of a housing estate.

There is no proper road access to these flats and the residents have to share the existing roads of the nearby housing estate. The residents' common oxidation tank is located just about 30m away from the dwellings and often an unbearable stench fills the environment.

Knee-level floods are quite common here, as drainage in the area is inadequate and not maintained. One of the blocks suffers from soil erosion underneath and residents constantly live in fear of the worst.

This scenario is further aggravated by an active underground Petronas gas pipeline running just 10m away from the flats. Signs along its path clearly caution 'Danger' and prohibit any structures or buildings to be built nearby.

What is described above is the home for the 500-odd plantation workers from Perang Besar Estate, Sedgeley Estate, Galloway Estate and Madingley Estate who were relocated when Putrajaya was born.

Overnight, this community of plantation workers, who have toiled and worked in the estates for three generations, have been declared outcasts of the Federal Territory. Due to federal government pressure to build Putrajaya, the community has been hurriedly dumped at a deplorable wasteland.

It is sad to note how the powers that be have directed this community to such living conditions. Despite various social science surveys proving that cramped living conditions such as these stunts the social development of the residents and their children, such dwellings are still allocated for them.

An unkempt environment, noise pollution, lack of privacy, gangsterism and theft are the common problems faced by these families. The state government, too, has taken the easy way out to approve such five-storey walk-up flats as legitimate housing for estate workers whenever estates are converted for development.

It is unfair to provide such dwellings to our fellow Malaysians who have been the working class of this country, helping to bring it prosperity for over 100 years. The government is responsible for providing adequate and habitable houses for its rakyat and should not wash its hands off the matter by leaving it to property developers and plantation owners.

Clear laws need to be made and enforced by the relevant authorities to ensure that the plantation community in general does suffer the same fate as the Taman Permata community.