A group of Cameron Highlands families that has been lobbying for affordable housing has finally secured a meeting with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to discuss their woes.

This development comes after months of lobbying for the meeting since July last year, including two occasions in October and December where the families involved turned up outside the PMO’s office complex.

Speaking to KiniTV this morning, Cameron Highlands Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary B Suresh Kumar (left in photo) said he was able to meet one of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s aides today, through a meeting arranged by Cameron Highlands BN coordinator Sivaraajh Chandran.

He said he was informed that the matter has already been brought to the prime minister's attention following the group's visit in December, and Najib had agreed to help find solutions.

“They acknowledged that this is a genuine issue in Cameron Highlands, and on Jan 29 we have been invited to send a small group to come and discuss a list of families involved in the issue.

“They wanted to see details of each family – who is working, the number of children, the income, and so on. After that we may come up with some solutions,” Suresh said.

He said this may take the form of a special housing scheme, instead of the PR1MA affordable houses that the group is demanding.

Meanwhile, Sivaraajh, who is also the MIC Youth chief, said housing problems are a recurring issue in Cameron Highlands, which is why he decided to help by bringing it to the prime minister's attention.

Previously, apart from the two visits, Suresh said he had written letters on seven occasions trying to secure a meeting, but did not receive a response.

According to Suresh, the issue involves about 75 families, of whom 18 were present with him today. They originally planned to set up camp outside the PMO for three days if they could not secure a meeting.

He said the families hail from the Bottom 40 who could not afford rising property prices in Cameron Highlands, and had resorted to either renting or building houses on government land for over 40 years.