The Star, Wednesday September 5, 2012
Plantation workers not moving out despite eviction notice from developer
DESPITE being threatened with demolition of their homes
and forceful eviction, a group of former plantation workers of Bangi
Estate has decided to stay put and fight their cause.
About 300
acres of the former 800-acre estate has been sold and the developer
Trans Loyal Development Sdn Bhd (TLDSB) has been trying in vain to
evict the remaining 25 families from the estate quarters.
When
the management converted the estate from rubber to planting oil palm in
2000, the services of the rubber tappers were terminated with some
workers having moved out after receiving compensation ranging from
RM10,000 to RM20,000, depending on their years of service.
However,
those who have refused to accept the compensation which they feel is
insignificant, are demanding that the developer build homes for them in
the former estate.
Staying
put: Some of the remaining families in Bangi Estate looking at homes
which were demolished by a group of people brought in by the developers,
to forcefully evict the former plantation workers.
The developer had attempted to demolish the homes five times, but the families stood their ground each time.
However, some of the unoccupied quarters have been partially demolished.
Bangi
Estate resident committee chairman Krishnan Chendermaie said it was
unethical for the developer to attempt to demolish their homes despite
knowing there were families still occupying them.
“We know the land has been sold and they have the right but it is improper to charge at us without paying us the compensation.
“All
we are asking for is a simple three-room house here or at a location
nearby in recognition for the years of service given to the estate,”
added Krishnan.
He said a notice was sent in June by a law firm
acting for the developer, asking the families to make preparations to
vacate the estate quarters by July 31.
“Fearing that we may be
evicted forcefully, we lodged a police report against the developer at
the Kajang district police station,” said Krishnan.
Committee
member and former plantation worker M. Rajan said the remaining families
decided to fight their cause because the Kajang district office and the
developer had promised to build 44 houses and a temple during a meeting
with them in 2007.
“We knew there was something amiss and we
were not going to get what was promised to us because the project
changed hands three times in five years and we had to have meetings each
time with the new developers to present our case,” added Rajan.
He
said the families have rejected a compensation of RM18,000 offered by
the latest developer during a meeting with them on June 27.
Chintamany Chidambaram, 68, who has worked as a rubber-tapper for 35 years, said the families are now living in fear.
“We
are constantly being threatened with eviction notice and demolition.
This is the price we have to pay for toiling in the estate for all these
years,” added Chintamany.
Echoing her sentiments, Lalitha M.,
54, who is now employed as a casual worker said Bangi Estate has been
her home for the past 40 years and shudder to think what would happen to
her family if they were forced out of the estate.
When contacted, project manager Tew Sem Tiong declined to comment on the issue.
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