AMPANG, February 7 – 68 families in Kampung Berembang here can now heave a sigh of relief as their rights to buy low cost houses have been acknowledged by the state government.

This joy could be seen during the Projek Perumahan Rakyat Kampung Berembang Indah (Kampung Berembang Indah Public Housing Project) thanksgiving ceremony attended by the Dato’ Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim this afternoon.

The residents who before this had been denied their rights by the previous government are thankful to the state government today for being open to discussion in solving this problem which they had faced for years.

Abdul Khalid in his speech during the ceremony said the residents had a right to the justice which they had spent so long fighting for.

“We will give the (house) keys to all the residents so that they can go on with their lives,” he said.

Also present were the Chairperson for Permanent Committee on Housing, Building Management and Squatters, Iskandar Abdul Samad and Bukit Antarabangsa State Assemblyman, Azmin Ali.

The residents who had to live under an electric cable route since their houses were demolished in November 2006, were given guarantees that they would own low cost houses which should be completed by June this year.

They had previously been offered houses in a squatter settlement programme by the previous government, but were denied their rights to own the houses after they challenged its decision to demolish their houses without prior negotiation in court.

“Alhamdulillah (Thank God), after having to live under such poor circumstances, the Selangor state government has decided to settle this problem amicably,” said Azmin in a press conference after the ceremony.

According to Azmin, the Pakatan Rakyat government under Abdul Khalid’s leadership had studied the problem faced by these residents before holding discussions to find a solution.

“The state government decided to defend the residents’ rights and 68 families in this village have now been given their rights back,” he said.

For the Exco who settled the residents’ problem hands on, the method chosen by the state government to help the people involved was through discussion.

“Under the previous government, there were no discussions held to find a proper solution, instead they sent the authorities to demolish their houses,” he said.

“We have had many cases relating to town developers and our approach is to settle them diplomatically. Therefore, we would begin discussions such as was done with Kampung Berembang, “ he added.

Meanwhile the Secretary for the Kampung Berembang Residents Association, Husin Ahmad, said the previous government had labelled them as stubborn squatters.

“The truth is, we were not being stubborn, but we were extremely upset because the previous government had not held any discussions at all.

“The residents were not asking for much, they just wanted a solution,” he said.

He said the residents were relieved when the Shah Alam High Court on 27 November 2007 sided with them when it ordered the developer and state government to pay costs to them.

“With the current state government the residents were able to hold discussions … there was a lot of give and take which was really good,” he said. – NOOR ALLIA KASSIM