KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya has approved RM1mil for residents involved in the Bukit Kiara longhouse resettlement and redevelopment project, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said the allocation aims to ease the relocation’s financial burden on residents with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) tasked to the housing scheme’s maintenance.
“I will give RM1mil to DBKL so that every month, it can cover maintenance and not burden residents and the occupants of the new house,” said Anwar during his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony in Taman Rimba Kiara on Monday (June 15).
Anwar said the ground-breaking for permanent homes at the Taman Rimba Kiara longhouses signals the importance and lasting significance of the project despite its modest scale.
"Today's project is not big, but its effect in terms of history is significant, and not only for Malaysia," he said.
Anwar said the urban poor living in longhouses usually lost out when squeezed between housing pressure and the wealth built up around them.
"Imagine, in any country, the urban poor in longhouses like this, facing housing pressure, surrounded by mansions, and trying to protect the forest. They have never won in the history of the world," he said.
Anwar said the families had waited far too long for a proper home.
"Imagine living in a longhouse for 44 years. Almost 50 years, not five," he said.
He said the government's role had been to find a resolution to the matter, after working through questions of residency and old agreements.
The outcome, he said, upheld the rule of law and made sure the poor were not left behind.
"What we promised has been kept. The rule of law, looking after the people, the poor not left out, and a fair solution," he said.
He said other states and cities should learn from the case, adding that homes could not simply be torn down or land taken from people.
"Hopefully all states and all cities in this country can learn from this experience. There must be justice. Not everyone can come and demolish houses or take people's land," he said.
Anwar cautioned, however, that the settlement should not be treated as a reason to put up illegal homes.
"Do not take this as an example to build squatter houses and then keep demanding rights," he said, noting that the case involved a long-standing agreement with the developer.
The longhouse families are descendants of rubber tappers moved from the Bukit Kiara Estate in the early 1980s. They were placed in longhouses meant to last about five years, but have remained on the site for more than four decades.
The Federal Court struck down a high-rise project planned for the area in 2023, after a long campaign by residents to keep the adjoining park.
The Cabinet later agreed to build permanent homes for the families on the existing site.
