About 45 families of Kampung Saujana in Batu Tiga, Shah Alam, have rejected the city hall's offer of a RM35,000 low-cost unit at the Bukit Subang flats because they are 'unsuitable'.

They claimed the offer turned out to be unsold units located on the top floor of a five-story walk-up low-cost flats.

Bukit Subang, developed by Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd, was identified as an alternative housing area for the families by the Shah Alam City Hall in an attempt to meet Selangor's 'Zero Squatter 2005' policy.

But the Kampung Saujana residents action committee are demanding that Cekap Mesra Development Sdn Bhd fulfill an agreement entered in March 2002 with the original 74 families for low-cost housing in Saujana Puchong.

The developer's original plan was to relocate the villagers to a spot nearby pending the construction of the low-cost housing.

Kampung Saujana villagers were issued eviction notices by the Petaling district/land office in November 1992. A census taken at that time identified 74 families for the relocation exercise.

Villagers claim that everything changed in 1996 when the Selangor government acquired a huge chunk of Cekap Mesra's land to make way for a flight path for the Royal Air Force base in Subang.

Suitable areas

Met at malaysiakini 's office yesterday, committee member A Thomas ( photo, left ) said that when this happened, the developer converted the use of land earmarked for low-cost housing to industrial and developed a light industrial area instead.

"The rest of the project, including the houses promised to us, was shelved after that," he said.

"We are willing to consider housing, including low-cost flats, in other nearby or more suitable areas."

Another committee member S Natchymuthu said the developer had violated the agreement with the people, complicating matters further.

"All we want is for the developer to keep their end of the bargain," he said after the group submitted a memorandum to Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.

"We strongly feel it is the government's responsibility to ensure that we get what the developer had promised us earlier."

The memorandum was also copied to Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting, Seri Setia state assemblyperson Seripah Noli Syed Hussin and Kelana Jaya MP Loh Seng Kok.

The committee also expressed "extreme disappointment" with K Sivalingam, the state exco member in charge of housing for plantation workers and miners and unity, for being "a total failure".

In 1992, everything was moving smoothly, according to the minutes of a meeting chaired by the district office.

The villagers had agreed to a temporary resettlement pending the construction of the low-cost units within the vicinity.

Cekap Mesra, which had three representatives at the meeting, promised to prepare the temporary site, pay each family a compensation of RM3,000 and provide transportation for the move.

The company also agreed to relocate a temple and offered to sell shop lots planned in the area to interested villagers.

But a second list was later compiled by the Shah Alam City Hall who canvassed Kampung Saujana, recording less 20 families, leaving only 54.

Indonesian names

Natchymuthu ( photo ) said some Indonesian names had also found their way onto the list, believed to be that of tenants occupying the houses of some villagers who decided to rent away from the flood-prone area.

"When it floods, the situation is terrible. Water levels sometimes reach up to our chest, so a number of villagers decided to rent out their temporary houses to migrant workers and rent elsewhere."

In 2000, Cekap Mesra, a subsidiary of Talam Corporation Bhd, made another offer for low-cost flats at RM35,000 per unit comprising three-rooms and two-bathrooms at Saujana Puchong. This did not work out.

Earlier offers for units in Bukit Sentosa, Rawang, and Sepang Indah in May 1998 were also rejected due to the distance.

Thomas was also worried that his name was missing from the second list.

"I never left the village but my name's missing from the second list which the authorities are now using to allocate the units," he said.

Questioning the state, Natchymuthu said Mokhtar Dahlan, the previous exco member in charge of housing and squatters, had failed to resolve the matter.

"He was a two-term state assemblyperson, why couldn't he clear this within the 10 years he was in the state exco?

"He could have moved us into the low-cost Pangsapuri Melewar housing 500m away from where we live now, especially after seeing us repeatedly hit by severe floods," he said, adding that the project was completed about five years ago.

None of the parties involved were available for comment today.