Resident S. Engkannah, 63, showing the floor plan of his soon-to-be-built home in Desa Kuala Garing, Rawang.
EIGHT homeowners, who have been waiting for two decades for their homes, will finally see their houses being built in Desa Kuala Garing, Rawang.
The eight are part of 11 remaining residents who were left out of a relocation programme due to a miscommunication in 2001.
Back then, the residents who were living near Sungai Rawang were relocated after the state government approved a river diversion and widening project with Lafarge Malaysia in 2001.
There were 135 houses by the river.
However, luck was not on the side of the 11 homeowners as they moved out of their houses that were badly damaged by termites and heavy rain.
“We wanted to renovate the houses but were told to put our plans on hold as Lafarge would relocate us to a new site,” said A.H Tan.
The 63-year-old said he rented a house nearby while waiting for the state government to finalise its plans.
“State government officers and Lafarge (the landowner) obtained signatures from residents to move to a new area but the 11 of us were not there. We were left out and they could not find us,” said Tan.
The 11 were later told that they did not sign the settlement agreement and were not entitled to new houses.
Tan’s neighbour, Looi Yok Keong also suffered the same fate.
“A survey was conducted when we were not at home and it was unfair,” said the 65-year-old who was accompanied by his daughter-in-law Alice Chau in a press conference with Rawang assemblyman Chua Wei Kiat.
Chau said her father-in-law was upset with the outcome and could not eat or sleep for days after finding out all his friends received keys to their new homes.
“He was looking forward to returning to the neighbourhood he grew up in,” she said.
Lafarge completed the construction of 124 houses and the keys were handed over in 2006.
The following year, the cement company began works on the diversion and widening of Sungai Rawang.
Subsequently Lafarge offered the 11 affected residents with land and material to enable them to build the houses, but the residents did not take up the offer due to lack of funds.
Last year, Chau approached the state government and Lafarge again on the issue, hoping to come up with a win-win situation for both parties.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
