IPOH: Residents of Kampung DBI and Kampung KTM in Jalan Spooner, Buntong, are urging the Perak government to fulfil its promise of providing alternative housing, an issue they say has been unresolved for nearly 30 years.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activist R. Mohanarani, 71, said the residents had sought permanent alternative housing, repeatedly writing to the Ipoh City Council and state government and attempting to have meetings.
"The residents, many of whom are descendants of former municipal council and railway workers, were promised subsidised terrace houses.
"The process has been disrupted by frequent changes in the state government and the Covid-19 pandemic," she told reporters outside the Perak State Secretariat Building on Friday (Oct 16).
Eleven residents showed up in an attempt to meet the Mentri Besar, but were received by special officer Zulfadzli Zawani.
He said the matter would be brought to the Mentri Besar’s attention, with further action to be considered.
He said arrangements would be made to submit the issue as soon as possible, possibly on Monday (Oct 19), as the Mentri Besar was away at an event.
Mohanarani said the original quarters were built before independence to accommodate single workers employed by the former Ipoh municipal council and Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM).
She said that when the workers’ families joined them, they were allowed to build wooden extensions to accommodate the growing households and some families continued living there after the workers retired.
Mohanarani claimed that the residents were seeking alternative housing as the authorities planned to demolish the existing quarters for a project, which would also result in the removal of the wooden extensions.
"Some of them have low incomes and cannot afford to rent or buy houses elsewhere. Their parents and grandparents helped develop Ipoh, so we are asking for subsidised homes for them," she said.
PSM chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj said the community had historical significance, as its forefathers worked for low wages to keep cities clean and build the country’s infrastructure, not only in Ipoh but the whole country.
He said many descendants of former municipal and railway workers remained without their own homes because their families earned too little to afford property.
He urged the government to consider subsidised housing for such communities around the country.
The Star has reached out to state housing and local government committee chairman Sandrea Ng and Buntong assemblyman M. Thulsi for comment.
