KUALA LUMPUR: Come tomorrow, bulldozers are expected to rumble into the Bukit Jalil estate to tear down the houses there. But the residents will not back down and are gearing up for battle.
In their words, some 41 families are prepared to take “all possible action” to thwart the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) from bringing their roofs down.
Even the possibility of facing the wrath of the police's baton-charging Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) will not deter them from the standing their ground.
The final eviction order to the residents, dated July 20, ends at midnight.
“We are ready for the worst case scenario,” a resident, who declined to be named, told FMT. “This is going to be Barisan Nasional's version of Kampung Buah Pala.”
“Obviously before demolishing the houses, they will bring in the FRU and we are prepared for that as well," he added.
It is learnt that opposition party leaders and NGO representatives have also vowed to fight alongside the residents to protect their houses.
However, the resident said they will not be bearing weapons, but will instead arm themselves with banners and posters.
"We will also bring in backhoes to block the demolition. This is our home. There is no way anyone is going to demolish our houses without an alternate solution to this problem," he added.
There are also plans to disconnect the power supply because they fear “a sudden power surge” which can raze their houses.
“We have seen this happen before. Mysterious fires at squatters. We do not want a similar incident here. We will disconnect power from tonight,” said the resident.
'We are not squatters'
It also stated that DBKL received orders from Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Deputy Minister M Saravanan that the next course of action will only be taken after a discussion between his ministry and the Human Resources Ministry.
Despite this, the residents were slapped with the final evacuation notice.
At a meeting with the residents yesterday, DBKL's deputy director (services) Amin Nordin Abdul Azai stood firm on the decision to evict the former Bukit Jalil estate workers, despite their appeal to postpone the deadline.
The residents were warned that demolition works can be carried out at any time after the deadline expires.
Contacted later, resident and Human Rights Party member K Balakrishnan said the contradictory letters from DBKL showed that the council is not willing to keep its word.
“Now, we have to move out by tomorrow. If we don't, it will not stop DBKL from demolishing our houses. But what about the promise made to us in the June 8 letter?” he asked.
"We are told that this land will be turned into a cemetary but we found out that the land has been sold to a prominent personality, who once served as a minister," he said.
Balakrishnan said that former estate workers should not be termed as squatters.
"We are not squatters. Squatters are illegal as they build houses on private or government land, but we were given houses built by a company with the full knowledge of the government,” he added.
Bukit Jalil is the last remaining estate in the capital. Parts of it were also taken over by the government for the Bukit Jalil sports complext project in 1998.
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