The 50-year-old Kampung Chubadak in Sentul is once again in the news.

Although the Lands and Mines Office (PTG) had given permission for the development of low-cost housing, the residents have refused to vacate the village.

Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the villagers had been asked to be rational over the development of low-cost housing in the area.

He said the housing project comprising 500 units of affordable homes would provide significant benefits and opportunities for more people who could not afford to stay in Kuala Lumpur.

"The truth is, the notice of withdrawal has been issued by the Federal Territory Land Office, and the land belongs to the PTG.

"The PTG gave the land to develop low-cost houses in the area, and I appeal to the (Kampung Chubadak) residents, especially the four or five people who are only thinking of themselves, to be reasonable.

"When we develop the low-cost housing, many more people can live there," he told a press conference after launching a dengue-free programme for the Federal Territory organised by the Foundation for Urban Wellbeing and PPR Seri Semarak Residents Association today.

Tengku Adnan said the government was trying to help, in terms of compensation as well as by alloting new housing units, but it was impossible to entertain the villagers' claim for plots of the same land area.

According to media reports, the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 1998 had ruled that the area belonged to the city's settlers and the parties concerned had to compensate them if they wanted to develop the area.

But in the year 2000, the Court of Appeal was reported to have decided that Kampung Chubadak was a squatter village, and residents were only allowed to occupy the area as licensees with the consent of the state.

The current status of the village will depend on the hearing in the High Court to be held on June 27.

On the dengue-free programme, Tengku Adnan said the ministry had to take a more aggressive approach in the fight against the disease due to the significant increase in the number of cases, as compared to last year.

He said, based on data obtained from the health ministry, the total number of dengue cases in the country, as of June had increased from 12,501 last year to 41,764 cases for the same period this year, with an increased fatality rate from 23 cases to 82 cases.

For the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Tengku Adnan said the data had demonstrated a significant increase in the number of cases, from 1,021 cases to 3,590 cases this year, and the number of deaths increased from five to eight people.

- Bernama