To the residents of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan off Jalan Sentul in Kuala Lumpur, they are not squatters. They are urban settlers who became landless on the very land that they developed. Their fate today is because of broken promises by politicians and developers.

Chairperson of the action committee to save Kampung Chubadak Tambahan, Ahmad Amiruddin said their woes began in 1993, when developer Sentul Murni bought over the land for commercial development.

Kampung Chubadak Tambahan, situated by the Gombak River, is not a new settlement. It used to house some 1,500 families but only 500 remain now. The rest have moved to the Sentul Murni low-cost flats nearby not entirely out of their will.

The kampung is an extension of the Malay settlement nearby, Kampung Chubadak

"They (the developers) tried to move us out using many ways," said Ahmad, who has been staying there for more than 30 years and whose house stands inches away from the now abandoned Sentul Murni block of condominiums.

"Datuk Harun Idris (the former chief minister of Selangor) promised us that he will give us the ownership of this land. But after him, there was no news on that.

"Then, this piece of land was sold to a Malay developer, and after that, we were told that it was sold to Sentul Murni," said Ahmad.

The original status of the land was revealed when four villagers staying on the area skirting the condominiums were taken to court by the Sentul Murni developers in 1993.

"We won the equity but the developers won the land," said Ahmad, who was one of the four dragged to court.

This means the developers will have to compensate the villagers if the former wants them to vacate.

Malay reserve land

The whole of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan was declared a Malay reserve land by the British in the 1930s, who later revoked it for mining purposes.

After the land was fully mined, it left a hole, said to be 300ft deep that was filled up and left just like that. There was cast mining done on it for a while by the first finance minister, the late Tun H S Lee, said one of the villagers.

The villagers argue that by right, it was supposed to have been returned to its original status as a Malay reserve land.

The village has all the amenities, from telephones, paved roads, piped water, a madrasah (religious school) funded by the Islamic Department (Jawi) and it even, at one time, housed a government clinic.

"The clinic was shut down when the developers came into the picture but what is funny is that the abandoned clinic and its surroundings are well maintained by the authorities," said Ahmad.

Ahmad said that the villagers were duped into signing an agreement to move out by the Umno division of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan.

"When we understood fully the agreement which we had signed, a big group of us lodged a police report, objecting to all that we had signed. The majority of the families were forced to move out, either by pressure or by the developers' sweet promises.

Strong-arm tactics

"They even used truckloads of police to force us to vacate the land but we stood our ground. Thugs were also used but the villagers chased them out. And there was once when they torched one of the houses and tried to create tension among the villagers.

Luckily, someone saw the arsonist and managed to alert the villagers," said Ahmad, who stated that over the last couple of years, there has been a lessening of pressure from the developers to vacate the land.

Another villager said that a letter from the developer to the head of the local Umno division was found much later, which stated the developer would pay RM19 million to the villagers, if they agreed to move out.

"That money was never seen or paid even to those who had moved out," said the villager, not wanting to be named.

The villagers have also lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) hoping the watchdog body would look into the sale of the land but were instead told that the "matter was political".

Ahmad said there were many reasons why the villagers refused to budge and insist that they be given the ownership of the land.

"This is Malay reserve land and it should not be sold just like that to build condominiums. The villagers are willing to pay RM1.3 million to acquire the land - which was the sum we believe was paid to buy the land," said Ahmad.

"We saw from scratch how the low-cost flats, which they offered us, were built. This is mined land and they had used plastic drums to make the foundation float. They told us it was going to be a five-floor flats but then they built 12-floor ones instead - what more on used mining land," said Salamah, another villager who had refused to move.

Ahmad said he believes the flats did not have a Certificate of Fitness (CF) when the developers completed it and asked villagers to move in.

"When those who were asked to move raised concerns about that, the developers quickly got a temporary CF and until today, I believe there is no permanent CF for the flats," said Ahmad.

Worries on the safety of the flats have been proven true with crack marks that have appeared on the sides of the five-year old flats.

Regrets moving

The occupants of the flats said when they moved out, they thought it was for the better, but now, they wished they had stayed put in the village.

A few occupants have even rented out the low-cost flats to others, as the conditions of the flats are quite bad.

Samad, 59, who had moved out of his long house and presently stays in the low-cost flats after signing the agreement, said he felt cheated by the Umno division members who coaxed him to sign.

" Kena tipulah !," replied Samad, when asked why is he complaining now since he was one of those who decided to move out, unlike those who had stayed on to fight for their land.

"I was earning RM300 a month at that time. When I retired, I had RM17,000 in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). Then, they asked us to sign that agreement. I signed on, thinking that these people meant well. After all, the deal sounded good then," he explained.

Samad said they were promised RM200 when their houses in Kampung Chubadak Tambahan are torn down and a further RM400 when they move to the long house.

"From the long house, the developer was supposed to pay us another RM400 plus a payment of RM5,000 as subsidy. We got the RM200 and the first RM400 when we moved to the long house. The rest was never received," said Samad, adding that that wasn't the end of it.

They stayed for four years in the long house and when they moved into the flats, they were told to pay the full RM25,000.

Ownership documents

"Can you believe it? On top of that, we had to pay RM50 a month for maintenance, which is for sweeping of the corridors. As I could not take a loan due to my age, at first I was not allowed to move to the flats when it was ready.

"My adopted brother paid for the flat but did we get the ownership? No! We got a long receipt, not even with our names on it. Until today, I have yet to see the ownership documents," lamented Samad.

"We paid RM25,000 for a home that we do not own . We have to pay cukai pintu (assessment taxes), even though the walls and roof are not ours, and the floor is shared with others, said Samad, who if given the choice, said he would move back to Kampung Chubadak Tambahan.

Samad said that living in the flats is terrible when compared to living in the kampung .

"The sewage pipe gets blocked all the time and there have been incidences where sewage spills out all over the flat. Then, there is that water bill problem," said Samad.

The water bills of Sentul Murni low cost flats are paid to the developer and not to the Jabatan Bekalan Air (Water Supply Department). According to the tenants, the developer totals up the total water usage of all the flats and then charges each flat an average.

"Only my wife and I stay in that flat and the water bill comes up to about RM60 per month. Then, they say there is maintenance but the lifts break down all the time," said Samad.

Samad said the water has been cut many times recently for up to a week after the developer failed to pay the water bill, even after collecting the money from those staying in the flat.

A check around the flats, which houses about 1,000 families, revealed its sorry state with clogged drains and rubbish strewn all over.

There was also another issue that irks those who have moved and those who have stayed put in the kampung .

Unscrupulous people

When the developer first asked shop owners from the kampung to move, the latter had asked for shop lots but were told that there were to be no shop lots in the flats.

"However, when we moved in, we found that there were shop lots but these were sold to outsiders and not to any of the kampung people. These outsiders then let out the shop lots to other outsiders," said one disgruntled tenant.

The original plan for the low-cost flats included a community hall and a children's park. Neither was built. The villagers now are forced to hold their functions at the car park.

Some of the villagers also believe that the developer might have paid the compensation amount and it could have been pocketed by unscrupulous people. However, there is no proof to substantiate this claim.

All in all, the villagers of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan and the Sentul Murni low cost flats agree they have been given a rotten deal.

As one villager summed it up, " It is the small time politicians with their top links who have tried to sell out the kampung so that condominiums can be built while 1,000 over families languish in rotten flats."

ZAKIAH KOYA is a malaysiakini journalist.