They were shown to the Visitor Registration Building of the Prime Minister’s Department.

Speaking on behalf of the families, Cameron Highlands Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary B Suresh said the families had written three letters to Prime Minister Najib Razak over the last three months requesting to see him but received no reply.

“The last letter was sent on Oct 7 and we told him we would come down here today if we were still ignored. So, here we are trying to get an appointment with the prime minister,” he said.

Suresh said his office in Cameron Highlands had received complaints from 40 families about their housing woes but he believed the actual number of families affected could be closer to 100.

“Today, only 22 families could make it but they are representing the other families as well.”

A representative of the families, 26-year-old Bistamam Ishak, said no one could afford the PR1MA houses priced at around RM100,000 that required a 10% deposit, as their monthly incomes were below RM2,000.

“We’re forced to rent and the rent in Cameron Highlands isn’t cheap,” he said, adding that the lowest rental rate was RM800 a month.

“So we hope the prime minister will please just hear us out and listen to some of the suggestions we have because we can’t keep going on like this.”

Another representative, 30-year-old Moganadass Ramesh, said many of the families had no fixed income.

“Many of us work when and where we can find a job so we don’t earn a fixed income. So it’s very difficult to get a loan from the bank or to pay the downpayment for the house,” he said.

“Our companies don’t pay us EPF, they don’t give us insurance and we don’t have Socso. We also have to take care of our own healthcare.”

Suresh said many of them were lorry drivers, taxi drivers, security guards and field workers who lived all over Cameron Highlands, including Ringlet, Tanah Rata and Brinchang.