"They only allowed three or four of us instead of the 30 in the group. When we insisted that all should attend the long-awaited meeting, they rudely chased us out of the building."

This incident occurred in a district office in Selangor. The person who told the villagers to get out was none other than the district officer himself.

S Muniandy, from Rawang, said all they wanted was to ask the DO (district officer) on the status of low-cost houses that were promised to them years ago.

"First, we were given a last-minute notice about the meeting. Then, we were treated with utter disrespect. We don't deserve to be treated this way," he said in Petaling Jaya recently.

He was part of a volunteer group representing 40,000 low-income earners in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor who are fighting to get affordable and adequate housing.

The volunteers working with the Selangor and Federal Territory Community Association (Permas) have been actively creating awareness among the poor on their rights to housing. They also offer practical tips on how to deal with government red-tape.

Corrupt and complicated

The group lodged about 800 police reports on housing related problems since 1999.

They also had an annual average of 500 dialogues and meetings with the authorities at various levels, including the local authorities, state government, state assemblypersons, members of parliament and ministry officials.

Permas president Tan Jo Hann said they have been raising related issues with various state and federal government departments, the City Hall and the district offices in Selangor.

"We have submitted numerous memoranda, letters, appeals, video-tapes and photographs to highlight the plight of the poor to the government, and have held dialogues with developers," he told a press conference.

"But the industry is very corrupt and complicated. Developers have bagful of tricks to trap the unsuspecting low-income earners."

He said many senior citizens from the squatter areas and longhouses had unwittingly signed sale and purchase agreements, thanks to the persuasive powers of the developers' agents.

"We're always at their mercy. The officers are arrogant and deal with the people in a high-handed manner."

Furthermore, said Tan, it was difficult to meet senior government officers, ministers or state assemblypersons because they are always busy.

"When they finally meet us, they are either in a perpetual rush for something or they are ignorant of related laws and policies, even their own."

Cower behind phrases

He cited a two-year Housing and Local Government Ministry policy to take over low-cost housing projects from state governments. The policy included a price-list tagging each unit at RM35,000 located in city centres and urban areas.

"But when I asked why the new policy appeared to contradict the existing policy of RM42,000 for low-cost units in a city like KL, the senior ministry officials could not answer me.

"Worse still, they were condescending towards us, saying this like ' Haiya Mr Tan, takkan you tak faham lagi... you pun tahu keadaan sebenar '." ('Don't tell me you still don't understand... you should know the real situation')

Tan said when faced with hard facts, government officers always cower behind such phrases to escape from giving a proper reply or commitment.

Suriati Hamidun, from the Ampang Campuran longhouse, described the Selangor land office as the "rudest of all".

Her group had sought to clarify the status of their low-cost housing application in 1999.

"They were so kurang ajar (rude) to us. They told us not to bother them with such complaints anymore," she said.

"At the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, we were scolded for being persistent in our request for low-cost units.

"The government was the one who dumped us in the longhouses and made us wait all these years in the first place. Why should we bear the brunt of their impertinence and insults?"

No written commitment

Going by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's public statements about eradicating hard-core poverty and providing affordable housing for the poor, she said, it all sounded good.

"But does he know what is happening down the line of power? Is he aware of how we, the rakyat, are being treated by civil servants and elected representatives?"

Furthermore, said Suriati, no government officer dares to give any written commitment to the people.

"It's always verbal assurances of this and that. But to what use are those words? They are not worth anything to us.

"They always tell us to trust them because they are the government. Then why can't they put those assurances in black-and-white?" she asked.

Yap Ah Lam, of Puchong, said he is fed-up with all the government's sweet promises.

"The local politicians, including state assemblypersons and MPs, are ineffective and lazy. They are never around when you need them. I only see them once every five years before they disappear again, to play golf or something."

In one incident with a senior local government officer, he said the officer asked him if he was trying to get him sacked by asking for commitment in writing.

"Most of them are good in shirking their responsibilities and passing the buck. When you go to the local authority, they tell you it is the state's policy. When you ask the state, they tell you it is a federal policy."

Yap said that based on his bitter experiences over the last one year in dealing with the authorities for housing matters, he has lost faith in the government administration.