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Squatters upset over house
price
07/04/2009 NST Naveen Mathew Menon
Selayang member of parliament William Leong Jee Keen (right) talking to S.
Ayasamy while other residents look on.
SELAYANG: Some sat in stunned silence, while other residents of the Bukit
Botak squatter settlement shouted their dissatisfaction, berating Selayang
member of parliament William Leong Jee Keen.
They had just been told at a recent dialogue session that the homes they had
booked and paid deposits for eight years ago were going to cost RM80,000
each.
Originally, they had been given a choice of three types of houses priced at
RM42,000, RM67,000 and RM79,000.
They were also enraged that they had not received their rent subsidy of
RM300 a month from the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).
Eight years ago, Delpuri Corporation Sdn Bhd was appointed by the previous
state government to build homes to re-house the squatters of Bukit Botak.
But the developer abandoned the Taman Selayang Mutiara project several years
ago.
PKNS wants to take over the project but it is offering only one type of
house -- a slightly larger one measuring 63 square metres -- for RM80,000.
"It's been eight years since the project started and we still don't have
permanent homes," lamented S. Ayasamy.
"I made a downpayment of RM4,000 to Delpuri, and when I signed the agreement
the house price was only RM42,000. How can the cost double for a slightly
bigger house even if the prices of building materials have gone up?"
He said that PKNS had also not paid his rent subsidy for the last six
months.
"I have nine children, six still schooling, and my rent is RM450. What am I
supposed to do? How is my family going to survive in these difficult times?"
Nagiran Ithnin, on the other hand, is supportive of the new proposal. He
said he had been waiting for far too long and just wanted the issues to be
resolved so that he could get his home.
Leong said the gathering was a form of referendum to solve the problems.
"An earlier proposal to build high-rise apartments was rejected and PKNS is
making this alternative proposal," he said. "Due to the time gap, the price
of materials has gone up. There is also some legal cleaning up to be done
under this new proposal.
"The buyers have to terminate the power of attorney given to Delpuri and
sign a new agreement with PKNS so that it can develop the project. We will
have to call for a meeting with Delpuri to resolve the issue." |
