Koskan Tambahan dispute a private matter - Hulu Selangor Land Office

The Hulu Selangor Land and District Office has declined to intervene in a dispute between Kampung Koskan Tambahan settlers and the land owner.

This is after settlers - who had lived in the village in Serendah for over 40 years - asked the state government to save them from eviction, which is slated to take place today, pending a settlement with the land owner.

“We stress that this dispute is between the land owner and the villagers and we hope both sides can resolve this amicably,” said Hulu Selangor district land administrator Mohamad Hanafe Basri in a statement yesterday.

Hanafe said the land - Lot 4465 GRN 322912 - has been privately owned for 133 years since June 21, 1890.

The original land owner then sold the land to Panca Resmi Sdn Bhd in 1991 - who remains the legal owner to this date.

On the land application by the villagers, Hanafe said their homes were built on the disputed lot but the land they had filed for was on a plot in the Sungai Serendah reserve, which is also a floodplain.

Hence, he said, the land office was unable to deliberate on the application.

He also said allegations that the state had given ownership of the floodplain to Panca Resmi were false.

Elaborating, Hanafe said that Panca Resmi has already engaged with villagers and offered them a settlement, which some accepted while others declined.

This, he said, is what led to the company seeking a court order to vacate the land.

On Feb 17, the Shah Alam High Court ordered a private developer to take ownership of the land and instructed the eviction of the villagers. A writ of possession was released to the developer on March 30.

The villagers have filed an appeal against the notice but a court date has yet to be fixed on the matter.

‘How can this happen?’

Meanwhile, PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan said the party is "extremely" disappointed with the land office and the MB for "washing hands off" in the matter.

"In the first place, the land office rejected an application by the people, saying that it was a river reserve.

"The same land office later said the same lot which the people have applied for is now under a company. How can this happen?" Arutchelvan (above) told Malaysiakini.

He further slammed the "false" remark about the settlers being offered compensation.

"The land office keeps repeating this false information, but it is not the case.

"The MB's office must remember that there is a state government policy since the Pakatan Rakyat, and Pakatan Harapan days that there will be no forced eviction until alternative housing arrangements are made for the people in Selangor."

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