Some thirty families comprising ex-estate workers at Ladang Bukit Jelutong in Shah Alam were all prepared for the worst but were relieved to discover that a scheduled demolition of their homes would not be taking place today.

The feared demolition was scheduled for May 4 but residents were anticipating the team would arrive today as yesterday was a public holiday. Demolitions of workers' homes had occurred at the estate four times previously.

"We were told that court officials would be coming here. But just to be safe, the people are not going to let anyone in," said social activist S Arutchelvan when met at the roadside entrance leading to the estate some 500 metres in off the Kuala Lumpur-Shah Alam highway.

At about 10am, three sheriffs from the Kuala Lumpur High Court arrived with a police escort saying they were there to 'assess the situation' involving the remaining 27 families following the eviction order obtained by the land's owner, plantation giant Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad.

One of the sheriffs, Zainudin Ismail, said they were there to record the expiry of a 14-day eviction order served by Guthrie. Assuring the desperate families that they were not there for demolition, he said: "We only want to see if there are people still living in the houses."

A representative of Guthrie, who identified himself only as 'Ungku', was also present. "I'm only here to witness the check by the bailiffs," he said, when approached. "I can't say anything more ... please check with our public relations department."

Guthrie officials could not be reached for comments at press time.

Eviction notice

The ex-estate workers, numbering about 50 including children, had gathered at the main entrance to the estate as early as 7.30am after being told that a demolition team would be arriving at 9am.

They were later joined by community leaders, human rights activists and several PAS politicians.

A similar attempt at demolishing their homes was made about a year ago.

The ex-estate workers, a year ago numbering more than 100 families, have repeatedly appealed to Guthrie chairperson Musa Hitam for an amicable solution to their problem centring around obtaining alternative housing.

The dispute, however, is now in court, with two matters pending. On Friday, the families will know whether they will be successful in their application to set aside an eviction notice obtained by Guthrie.

On May 19, the families have another hearing for their attempt to set aside the default judgment which Guthrie had obtained and been using as an authority to carry out the four previous demolition of estate workers homes at Ladang Bukit Jelutong.

Bare shacks

M Manogar, a lawyer representing the families, said previous demolitions had been done without any court officials present.

"They (the sheriffs) saw shacks instead of houses there because the families, having lost their houses to the demolition teams four times previously, have learnt to live with bare necessities now.

"After four demolitions, you can't expect them to rebuild proper, nice houses. They are living in constant fear of demolition. They feel the law is not protecting them," said Manogar, adding they hoped to set aside the eviction notice on Friday.

"We also hope to set aside the default judgment on May 19 which is what Guthrie has been using. But I think they (Guthrie) will wait for Friday's decision.

"If we're successful, there will no longer be any demolition and we can focus on setting aside the default judgement.

But he said if they failed in their attempt on Friday, the court will then proceed to set a date for the demolition of the families' homes.