They said they filed the report as a precautionary measure to seek protection against any future threats made through the developer’s agents.
The villagers’ representative Azman Mohd Taib claimed they had been “harassed” to vacate their houses if they rejected the developer’s offer.
“We have been given an option to take RM7,000 as compensation to empty our homes, or they will issue us with a writ of summons and we will have to go to court to present our case,” he told FMT today.
He said the settlers were already given the right to occupy the land by the original land owner.
“The developer also lost their case when they used High Court Rule Order 89 back in 2012 against the settlers here to demolish our homes. The court ruled that we had the right (to stay put) and therefore cannot be forced to vacate our houses,” he said.
Another resident Noor Azmi Yaacop said they had settled and built homes there for more than four decades.
“If the developer wants us to vacate our houses, we demand to be compensated with a house in that same area,” he said.
“RM7,000 is not enough. Maybe a few years back, but not now. Where are we going to live later?” he added.
Azmi said it was impossible for the villagers to find new houses they could afford due to the high property prices today.
“The problem is with the agents of the developer. They go from house to house in the village and harass the owners who are mostly elderly people to sign the agreement to give up their houses. This is not right,” Azmi added.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) Secretary-General Sivarajan Arumugam who was present said the villagers’ demand was simple in that they only wanted a house each.
“They have to be duly compensated because they are not illegally occupying the village. And they already won the case back in 2012. They also built their houses with their own money which is far more than what the developer is offering,” he said.
He said it was also imperative that the houses the settlers were compensated with be built in the same area.
“We don’t want the developer offering these settlers a new house but which is far from their original homes. It does not make sense,” Sivarajan said.