For 20 residents of a former rubber estate in Ipoh, May 13 today is a day of victory and a day they will savour and remember for a long time to come.

After three long years of struggling for a piece of land where they could build their homes, their wish was finally fulfilled. They savoured victory in the Ipoh High Court this morning when the developer agreed to give them alternative land to build their new homes.

In a consent order recorded before Justice Hamid Embong, the developer, PCB Development Sdn Bhd, which is a subsidiary of the Perak Corporation Berhad (Prakcorp) agreed to provide the residents of Ladang Strathisla with two acres of alternative land.

The developer had also agreed to pay a total of RM20,000 as compensation for relocation to the residents. In return, the residents agreed to move out from the land they currently occupied by June 21.

It is believed that the estate land in Ladang Strathisla will be developed as part of the new township, Bandar Meru Raya.

According to information obtained from the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange website, the fully integrated township in Ipoh will be developed over a period of 10 to 15 years.

The development is also incorporating an ICT (Information Communication Technology) centre as a platform for a mini multimedia super corridor in Perak.

The residents were represented by lawyers Dominic Puthucheary and G Balasundram while PCB was represented by A Mariadass and Shidev Singh.

Alternative land

Balasundram revealed that the alternative land for the residents is located less than two km away from their current homes and is enough to accommodate 20 houses.

Meanwhile, Puthucheary told malaysiakini that at least now the residents will not be homeless as they have the land to build their own houses.

"Within six months, hopefully the land title will be ready," he said.

According to M Saraswati, a coordinator with grassroots organisation Alaigal, known for its struggle to attain a better livelihood for estate workers, the consent order today is a 'victory' for the residents since their struggle started in 1998 after receiving an eviction order from the developer.

She recalled that the residents' demand for housing also had the support of 6,000 people in Perak as evident from the signature campaign they had organised.

With various groups exerting pressure upon the state government, the developer finally offered a compensation package which is acceptable to the residents and the agreement was recorded at the Ipoh High Court today.

"In 1969, it's a black day. Today, May 13, 2002 is a historical day for the Strathisla (former) workers. They recorded a victory in the court," she said.

She was referring to the 1969 bloody racial riots in Malaysia that began on May 13 and resulted in the death of scores of civilians. The riots, which came about after the general elections that year, has been a low point in racial relations in the country.