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Khir Toyo's inconsiderate decision saddened Kg Cempaka 's villagers
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Media Statement
by Ronniu Liew Thian Khiew
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(Petaling Jaya, Saturday):
In a meeting at MPPJ yesterday, the Selangor Mentri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo has decided to reject the appeal forwarded by the Kg Cempaka villagers.

The affected 163 families have appealed to the State Government  to allow them to stay on until their children have finished their examinations this year.

Khir has apparently made this inconsiderate decision because he has planned to declare Selangor as a fully-developed state on August 27 this year.

This decision came as a shock to the affected villagers because there's no real urgency for the villagers to vacate their homes since the TNB reserved land currently occupied by them would not be developed until end of this year.The villagers were only told to leave by the local MCA assemblyman C K Lim in May.Both C K Lim and Chew Mei Fun have decided to turn their backs against the villagers when they sensed that the MB was adamant about clearing all squatters by July 31, 2005.

But how could Khir Toyo expect the villagers to move to Kota Damansara transit homes ( more than 5 km away) with such a short notice? Could he help them to resolve problems such as tranfer of schools, arrangement of transport, changing textbooks and preparations for examinations?

And more importantly, at least 40 families here have yet to be alloted with transit homes and the opportunity to purchase low-cost units. We hope MPPJ could offer all these families with transit homes and low-cost units before they were asked to leave by end of July.

I have earlier urged the MB to postpone the Zero Squatters Program 2005 by another year or two since the State Government has failed to provide sufficient

transit homes and low-cost units for the affected families in the state. It certainly defeats the purpose of the program if people become homeless instead of benefiting from a better and healthier living environment.

We have also urged him not to declare Selangor as a fully-developed state because the state has not reached such a level. We do not want Selangor to become a laughing stock. after all, what's the point of branding Selangor as a fully-developed state if the state cannot even provide alternative homes for the affected urban pioneers?

We urge Dr Khir Toyo to reconsider the reasonable appeal put forward by the villagers. The villagers may have to bring their grievances to the Housing and Local Government Minister and Prime Minister.

(16/7/2005)

 


* Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP International Secretary and NGO bureau chief

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