Settlers claim ‘unfair’ land distribution

Some 139 families in the Batu Caves Settlement are unhappy with Gombak MP Azmin Ali's handling of their land issue.

SHAH ALAM: Disgruntled residents from the country’s last remaining Indian settlement are demanding that Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim step in and resolve the “unfair” distribution of land parcels in the area.

The Batu Caves Indian settlement, with 183 families, has been around for over 60 years and majority of the residents have been there for over 30 years.

Earlier today, 50 members of the community carrying placards staged a protest outside Khalid’s office urging him to resolve the issue of their “landlessness”.

A spokesman for the protesting residents, N Maniarasan, said that they were unhappy with the way Gombak MP Azmin Ali and Batu Caves assemblyman Amiruddin Shari and land office had divided the land allocated by the state government for the Indian settlement.

According to him, only 77 families have been allocated the land lots which cover 20 acreas.

“How come only 77 families got the land? There are 183 families in the settlement; 45 families already have TOL (temporary occupation licence).

“We are 139 families left without land. How can Azmin distribute 20 acres of land for only 77 families?

“What about the rest of us… don’t we qualify? Why didn’t they divide the lots equally among the 139 families?” he asked.

‘Azmin threatened us’

According to Maniarasan, during the 2008 general election, Azmin and Amiruddin had promised that everyone in the settlement will get a piece of land, but two years later only 77 families have been granted lots and that too with differing sizes.

“When we spoke to Azmin, he said the rest of the 56 families will get their land in the future.

“But there is no more land here. Where is the state government going to get the land from?” he asked.

Maniarasan also raised the issue of Azmin’s handling of the situation.

He said he could not understand why Azmin and Amiruddin were not listening to the residents and preferred to heed the advice of PKR and MIC members.

Explaining further, he said PKR’s Veeraya@Appu and MIC’s VS Maniam had manipulated the land lots among themselves and cronies.

He said Veeraya and Maniam, who are both residents, were recipients of 6,000 and 7,000 sq ft of land respectively.

“Maniam’s son does not live here but he also received 4,000 sq ft of land. The same thing happened to Veeraya’s mother-law. She also does not live here but had been given land,” he said.

Maniarasan said the residents met Azmin last week and asked him about these land lots.

“Azmin was angry with us. He threatened us and said if we don’t accept his plan no one will get any land,” he said.

Meanwhile, Khalid’s secretary Norzatonaim Mohd Kassim, when asked, said the state government will stop, temporarily, the issuance of the land for the 77 family until the issue is resolved.