They questioned the lack of action by the developer and DBKL to provide them with alternative housing although it has been 15 years since the issue was first raised.

The residents hold an expired Temporary Occupational Licence (TOL) for Lot 9714 Jinjang Selatan Tambahan (JST) Kuala Lumpur.

After their TOL expired in 1996, they applied to renew the licence in 2004 but it never got approved.

However, in 2007, DBKL approved development plans for the land submitted by Syarikat Zil Enterprise Sdn Bhd.

The original number of housing units has been reduced from 545 to 345 after residents in an estimated 200 units were told to vacate and their houses were demolished.

Currently, they are living in rented premises, with RM700 given to each family by the developer every month.

Now, the remaining residents have been issued eviction notices, telling them to move out by Jan 31.

“There are no signs of development, not even a signage, and they want the rest to vacate, This is unfair,” Yee Poh Peng, who heads the Kepong community service centre, said.

He insisted that the residents will only move out after the developer has completed building the low-cost flats and affordable housing meant as alternative accommodation for them.

Yee said Kuala Lumpur mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan, who visited the area on Jan 30, “verbally promised” to begin work on the alternative housing by April.

“We are pushing for a black-and-white letter for peace of mind,” he said.