Light at the end of the tunnel for Kpg Railway?

Despite being evicted from the land they had occupied for decades, residents of Kampung Railway in Sentul may still get their medium cost houses at the price of a low cost house.

PETALING JAYA: Early this week, the Kuala Lumpur High Court declared property developer Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the YTL group,  as the lawful owner of Kampung Railway, a residential area in Sentul.

The decision dismayed current residents of the area and their lawyers vowed to appeal against the decision soon.

“The developer is the owner of the land, and by that virtue, they emerge the absolute owners irrespective of how and why they came to be the owners,” Justice Zabariah Yusof said in her verdict, paving way for the developer to start construction in the area.

Sentul Raya, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation, initiated the case last year seeking a court order to evict Kampung Railway’s 153 residents, claiming they were trespassers.

The residents however countered saying  that they have the right to remain there by virtue of their being descendants of former Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) employees who began settling there in 1885.

They had also called on the government to turn the land into an Indian heritage site.

The Kampung Railway saga is not something new. It has been on-going for decades. The government in its privatisation drive in the 1990s sold off the land to the private developer, thinking that development would spur economic activities.

Although Sentul Raya did not start developing the area immediately, the company had plans to turn Sentul into a modern-living township. In its endevour the firm had to cross swords with the residents of Kampung Railway.

Sentul Raya had originally planned a low and medium cost housing project for the people of Kampung Railway. In August last year the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) approved the development plan of the housing project.

The plan was for the construction of 150 units of low-cost houses for Kampung Railway squatters, 576 units for KTMB lower-income staff and 200 units of medium-cost houses.

Ministry’s letter ready but…

The Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Ministry was ready to issue a letter of guarantee for the construction of houses for pioneer residents of Kampung Railway and KTMB staff.

The letter of guarantee was supposed to put to rest Kampung Railway residents’ worries that the low-cost housing scheme for them would not materialise.

In fact, the residents were offered a RM200,000 medium cost house each at  the price of a low-cost unit, which is RM45,000.

Then came the problem.

The authorities and Sentul Raya needed the exact number of residents living in Kampung Railway. Sentul Raya’s survey showed that the area had only 26 families while the DBKL survey showed 53 families.

The City Hall had also put another 57 houses under “investigation” as they were either vacant or had foreign workers renting them.

Another joint survey conducted by Sentul Raya, DBKL and Federal Territories and Urban well-being deputy minister M Saravanan showed 64 families.

While there was a contradiction in the numbers, several residents formed a group earlier this year and demanded that the whole Kampung Railway area be gazetted as a Indian heritage site.

This was however, difficult as the government had already sold the land to a private entity and would have to fork out hundreds of millions of ringgit to buy back the land and turn it into a Indian Heritage site.

But with the High Court decision this week, what is in store for the legitimate owners of houses in Kampung Railway?

‘Stop politicians from exploiting issue’

Legal eagles tell FMT that Sentul Raya now holds the trump card.

“For one, the developer can clear the land without any hassle. Secondly they can revive the low-cost, medium cost housing project and sell the units to the residents of Kampung Railway at the actual cost.

“This will mean the residents lose the subsidy. They would have to pay a full RM200,000 for a house compared to RM45,000 price offered to them earlier. Thirdly, the developer can choose to sell the houses in the open market,” said a lawyer familiar with the case.

He said while the residents can appeal against the High Court’s ruling, it is very unlikely to change anything.

The residents are now at the mercy of the developer.

However, all is not lost. Saravanan when contacted by FMT, confirmed that Sentul Raya had issued the letter of offer to some residents of Kampung Railway, who had accepted the earlier offer to purchase a medium cost unit for RM45,000.

“But they must come clean on the numbers. How many are actually staying there? How many really need these houses? Some of the residents desperate to save their houses launched this Indian heritage site campaign.

“After so long, they make this new proposal. I can only say that the future for them looks bleak after the court ruling. But we can still negotiate with the developer. I really want them to get at least a medium cost house at RM45,000.

“But until we come up with the actual number of houses needed this issue cannot be resolved. They have to stop politicians from exploiting the issue. Politicians will be here today and gone tomorrow.

“The residents are the ones who would suffer in the future. Be careful in making decisions. If they come clean, I believe we can still negotiate with Sentul Raya and reach an amicable solution to the issue,” said Saravanan, who is also MIC vice-president.

While the court had announced its decision, it is hoped all parties concerned would take into account the plight of the people in finding a solution to the problem.