Some 150 villagers from Kampung Berembang, Ampang protested in front of Housing and Local Government Ministry in Pusat Bandar Damansara, Kuala Lumpur today.

The protest, lasting about 30 minutes under the watchful eyes of 10 police personnel, was held to demand for proper housing scheme for the villagers.

Representatives from grassroots movement Jerit, student movement Dema, Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) and Women Development Collective (WDC) and villagers from Kampung Cumpadak, Sentul and Kg Papan, Klang were also there to lend support.

The villagers, holding placards and banners, also chanted slogans such as "Minister, come down to meet us" and "The minister stays in bungalow, but the rakyat stay in tents".

After 15 minutes, ministry officials approached the villagers and informed that the minister, Ong Ka Ting, his deputy, as well as the ministry's parliamentary secretary were not in the office.

Following discussion between village representatives and ministry officials, a delegation of 14 people met the ministry's Director-General for Housing Dr Ahmad Salludin Dali Aljaj and submitted a memorandum to him.

The memorandum from the village's appeal and resolve committee has urged Ong to find a permanent solution for the housing problem faced by villagers after their houses were demolished by private developers in March.

Committee head Alizan Ali, 43 said the protest was held to demand for Ong's intervention into the matter.

"We are here to request for a proper housing scheme. Our houses have been demolished five times to date. We are now living in tents outside our village which has been cordoned off," said Alizan.

"None of the ministry's top leaders is around today even though we have already fixed an appointment with the minister," he said.

He added that today is the villagers' second attempt to meet Ong. Their first attempt in October 2006 also failed as Ong was not in the office.

'No water, no electricity'

Villager Aslinda Ahmad, 33 said even though the Selangor state government has allocated houses for the villagers under its people's housing project (PPR) in Kampung Muhibah, Puchong, villagers are reluctant to accept the houses because the distance is unacceptable.

"It is not like we don't want to accept the houses given to us, but the government must understand that we are not rich and we can't afford to travel everyday to work from Puchong to Ampang," said Aslinda.

"Furthermore, our children are all studying in Ampang," she said, the villagers would have accepted the houses if they are nearby their village.

Explaining the current living condition of the villagers, Aslinda said: " We are living in tents without water and electricity since March."

"Ampang Jaya state assemblyman Mokhtar Dahlan said that we are a bunch of 'stubborn squatters' but that is not true. We are just fighting for our rights as we have stayed in this village for over 50 years," said Aslinda.

"He (Mokhtar) promised to negotiate with developers, but until now he has not done anything," she said.

State government's grudge

According to PSM pro-tem secretary-general S Arutchelvan, the developers do not want to allocate houses for the villagers in the nearby area as the state government has barred them from doing so.

"Developers are ready to allocate houses for us. But the state government is against it. We got to know this from the developers when Suhakam arranged for a meeting between the villagers and the developers on June 27," said Arutchelvan.

"The state government is having a grudge against the villagers because they brought the matter to the court. How can they make such a policy?" he said.

"That is why we are here to demand for an intervention from the federal government," he asserted.

However, Salludin has explained that the federal government cannot intervene in matters pertaining to state government's jurisdiction.

"How can the federal ministry say that he cannot solve the problem? Both (federal and state) are Barisan Nasional governments.

According to Arutchelvan, the villagers have given the ministry two options in order to solve their housing problem.

"They must allocate houses in Ampang, or give the villagers RM400 every month for their rental so that they can find their own houses," he said, adding that the villagers have given Ong two weeks to resolve the matter.