About 80 disgruntled villagers from Kampung Chubadak Tambahan today staged a protest against Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) move to tear down their houses.

Together with PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, Batu MP Tian Chua, PSM secretary-general S Aruthchelvan and NGO Anak chairperson Mazlan Aliman, the protesters stood outside the DBKL headquarters, jostling placards for attention.

They were waiting to hand over a memorandum to Mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib ( left ), asking that he respects a High Court order to hold off any more demolitions.

The High Court last week issued an injunction against DBKL and other parties from carrying out any demolition in Kampung Chubadak Tambahan until June 26.

"Until today DBKL has not explained how it intends to use the land. Sometimes it is said to be for housing, sometimes for a cemetery.

"The villagers were chased away without explanation on the development. I believe there is fraud," PKR vice president Tian Chua told reporters this afternoon.

Meanwhile, another protester, PAS youth chief Suhaizan Kayat, chided the federal government for valuing the giant pandas from China more than Malaysians.

'People are not worthy to BN...'

"The people are not worthy to BN and Umno... the pandas have more value. How much did the panda get? RM25 million. How much did the villagers get? Only RM7,000!

"Who should get more?" Suhaizan  asked as the villagers shouted back, "Panda!"

Protesters held up signs that read, "DBKL mayor, do not be arrogant and rude, respect court order", "We are Malaysian but Panda is No 1" and "Safeguard, build and empower village heritage".

The protest saw the handing over of a memorandum by a lawyer representing Kampung Chubadak Tambahan, Ahmad Zamri Asa'sd Khuzaimi, to the mayor's office, requesting that the mayor halts  demolition activities until June 26, when the injunction they obtained expires.

Ahmad Zamri said a memorandum will be forwarded to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak if the KL mayor insisted on demolishing the villagers' houses.

"The memorandum (to DBKL) is the first step. Secondly, we will submit more memoranda to the Agong, the prime minister and to the ministers, if the KL mayor does not listen to our demands.

"This memorandum will be taken as a sign of the villagers' wrath over the statement by the mayor to continue with the demolitions despite the High Court order," he said.

Besides this, the Ahmad Zamri said, the mayor should consult the villagers before carrying out any action in the village, where many Malay families have lived for 30 to 50 years.

DBKL Town Planning department deputy director  Norjannah Appendi ( on the left ) and an officer from the mayor's office, Mohd Shukri Rohim, met with the protesters and received the memorandum from them.

Last week, Mayor Ahmad Phesal said the houses of “all the illegal squatters” at Kampung Chubadak Tambahan would be demolished despite the injunction issued by the High Court.

Two houses were torn down under protest two weeks ago but further demolition work was halted following the intervention by PAS members.

About 12 police officers and DBKL enforcement unit staff stood guard at the DBKL headquarters in the KL city centre today and the protesters left peacefully, after handing over their memorandum of demand to the mayor's representative.