MIC chief S Samy Vellu said that he regarded the demonstration by the 250 estate workers in front of the office of the Selangor Mentri Besar last Friday as "fair".

"The poor can only demonstrate, they cannot do anything else. Demonstration is one way of showing their emotion, showing their feelings," said Samy when commenting on the demonstration by estate workers for their housing rights ([#1] Estate workers to protest at MB's office [/#], Jan 18)

Samy said that the workers were demanding the rights to have houses that have been promised them when they were evicted by developers.

"I know that workers of several estates that went for development in the Shah Alam area were all promised low-cost houses before. They (the workers) were asked to get out of their homes and they became squatters by the railway lines of Keretapi Tanah Melayu. Some lived there for 33 years. And when the low-cost houses were built, many were not offered those houses," said Samy.

According to him, although the Selangor state government has recently taken a very sympathetic measure and is giving away houses to squatters, the plight of estate workers that have been evicted remains.

"On the question of estate workers, they were promised that they will be given houses in the new development. Now the development has started, they are told they will be sent to Sungai Buloh.

"Why should they go to Sungai Buloh from Klang? Sungai Buloh is a different place. They (the workers) were not working in Sungai Buloh, they were working in Klang!" said Samy, who is also works minister.

Promises not kept

Samy added that although initially the workers were promised RM25,000 low-cost houses, they are now being offered flats instead.

He said that these workers are not given the lower units, and are being allocated units above the fifth floor.

"What is all this? People must learn to keep their promises, and the moment we do not keep our promises, people will not trust us. I think trust has become a very important factor now in Malaysian politics.

"These estate workers have never demonstrated for so many years. They kept quiet, and nobody cared for them," he said.

Samy, who will be meeting with the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss the issue, said that on the MIC side, the issue is being looked into by Selangor exco member K Sivalingam.

"Sivalingam has been fighting against the developers for such a long time and he even has brought it up with the state government. We have succeeded in some places but not others," said Samy.

He attributed these failures to some of the stubborn former developers and estate owners.

"They (the developers) were supposed to build houses 15 years ago. If you had built a low-cost house 15 years ago, it would have cost only RM11,000. Today, you build a low-cost house, it costs RM18,000. That is not the workers' fault. Now they tell the workers 'I am not going to give you the house for RM25,000', and the house price had been raised to RM35,000!" he said.

Samy said the poor estate workers - who are living with "hands to mouth" - cannot afford to pay RM35,000 to RM45,000 to buy a house.

According to him, Selangor was the only state government which decided in their executive council meeting that when developers want to develop, the people who are evicted must be allocated houses when they develop the land.

"At that time, for the sake of getting the permit, they (developers) agreed. After that, they developed the land but the housing part will be left to the end. By that time, a whole new town would be up and the estate workers - who have been promised houses - would not be cared for at all," said Samy.

Stumbling block

On the allegation by Indian Progressive Front president MG Pandithan that MIC has been their main stumbling block to enter the Barisan National coalition, Samy said, "Yes, we are the stumbling block. I admit. The reason we are the stumbling block is we do not want the Malaysian Indian community - which is 10 percent of this country - be divided into so many small political parties. In the end, their voice will not be heard anywhere.

"So, we wanted to give a total representation. For him, it is his party. To me, it is my community. My community is more important than his party. Similarly, MIC is not that big, but the Indian community is big. The Indian community is more important. So, in order to provide that the security, we have to stay united together," said Samy.

Samy added that there is no way he will allow IPF to become a component of BN. ( [#2]BN admission policy irrelevant: Pandithan[/#] , Jan 19)

On the proposed Malay unity talks initiated between PAS and Umno, Samy said that the unity of the Malay community is paramount.

"When the Malay community is not united, it brings on a lot of problems for the non-Malays and also for the country. All this while, we lived so peacefully in this country because we lived with the united Malay brothers. So, we would not like to see any divisions within them."

He said MIC does not have any objections to the Malay unity talks.

"They can unite, we have no objection. I must tell you that the Malays are a very accommodative race. Having been born here and lived here for 64 years, it has been my experience. The Malays are also very cultured and friendly people. When you see them having the differences with each other, it hurts us," said Samy.