Stop exploiting the hardcore urban poor. This was Parti Rakyat Keadilan (PKR) special advisor Anwar Ibrahim's message to the government.

He said residents renting government-owned low-cost homes after a period of time should be allowed to buy them.

"These homes were built to give the poor a better life. Why is the government collecting rent indefinitely?

"This is supposed to empower the urban poor, not to enrich the already wealthy," he said in his speech at a party rally in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night.

The New Economic Policy (NEP), first established in 1971, sought to eradicate poverty and end the identification of economic function with ethnicity.

In the early 1990s under the New Development Policy a continuation of the NEP - the Development Programme for the Hardcore Poor, or Program Pembangunan Rakyat Termiskin (PPRT), was introduced.

It established a register on the profile of hardcore poor households and projects tailored to meet the group's specific needs, including providing government housing.

Anwar was the finance minister and the deputy prime minister until his sacking in 1998.

Gone overboard

Close to 5,000 supporters, including parents with their children, cheered Anwar at the rally.

Many expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of improvement in their quality of life, and the widespread government corruption at the expense of the poor.

" Mereka (BN) dah melebih (They have gone overboard). They don't care about us (the poor).

"We don't want to be thrown out like the squatters in Kampung Berembang if the government decides to develop this area," said a resident.

The 30-year-old Kampung Berembang was a recent scene of forcible eviction after the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council tore down some 60 houses, leaving the villagers in a lurch.

The village, located less than 10km from the Kuala Lumpur city centre, is to make way for housing development.