Finally, there’s some news on the fate of the Tamil school and temple in that area. According to Star report:

The Kampung Pandan Indian settlement re-developmnet project involves the building of 480 low-cost units. Each unit will measure 700 sq ft – which is 50 sq ft bigger than other public housing units in the city and it is going to be more stylish.

It will have two 15-storey blocks and is estimated to cost RM47mil. The Hindu temple and the Tamil school in the area will remain.

Anyway, one have to keep the fingers crossed because things can demolished overnight. Just hire some contractors and thugs to “settle” the problem. Projects also can “evolve” overnight, and we have seen many cases where people were cheated of promises. I guess nothing much can be done, other than wait for election times to extract more promises.

Just have to put a bit of trust on the authorities:

“The relocation of squatters in the Kampung Pandan Indian settlement is only a temporary measure. Once their houses are built, they can come back and rent the units and eventually buy them.

“But for now, they must move out to enable the development to start. They have to trust us. This will be the first Indian settlement that is being redeveloped for Indians. We have come this far — just wait for another two years,” Saravanan said.

I hope there will be good news two years down the lane (and none of the stories similar to those mentioned by Samy that government didn’t do much).

Deputy FT Minister Saravanan meanwhile revealed this interesting information:

He added that the redevelopment of the settlement was the best thing that could happen to the residents and that two years was a small price to pay for the future benefits and the quality of life they would eventually enjoy living in a comfortable and clean environment.

“This redevelopment plan was never part of the local plan of Kuala Lumpur, which is why it is not listed in the Draft Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020.

“When I was appointed deputy minister in 2008, the first notice to relocate had already been given out by the DBKL,” Saravanan said.

“I spoke to the then FT minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique and told him of the need for a permanent home for the residents and the government then agreed to provide a more conducive living environment for the residents,” he said.

So, was this place supposed to be left as it is as the rest of KL moved ahead into 21st century? Or was it a development plan minus the existing residents who are expected to vanish into thin air? Interesting indeed.

One of the grouses of the residents (oh yeah, the new term is squatters), is the distance of the temporary housing which is Kg Muhibbah in Puchong. Let’s see the situation and comments of the residents:

Saraswathy Gabriel’s house is falling apart and the makeshift zinc roof constantly leaks after a downpour while the wooden floorboards creak with every step.

The 36-year-old shares a room with her husband and three children, aged 10, eight and six, while the other room in the house is taken up by her husband’s brother and his family.

A few doors away, Letchumi Krishnan, 45, shares a house with her husband, mother and four children. The dark and dingy abode looks gloomy and depressing. The floor boards are broken and damp in many places and the window panes are missing. It was almost a similar scene over at the Nagalingam household, where S. Nagalingam lives with his wife and two children.

When StarMetro visited these families recently, it was discovered that most of these families are living below the poverty line and their biggest concern is being relocated to areas that will burden them financially.

The poverty line income based on the 9th Malaysia Plan considers a family to be poor if it earns below RM720. In the case of Letchumi, the sole bread winner in the family, she works in a garment factory earning RM700 a month.

Her husband is sickly and is unable to keep a job for long. The only reason she is able to survive is because she does not have to pay for rent or transportation. She walks to work while the children attend a school that is 10 minutes away. The situation is similar for Saraswathy and S. Nagalingam who both make about RM700 a month.

At least 80% of the families at the village are making less than RM1,000 a month. Most of them worry what will happen if they are uprooted to Kampung Muhibbah in Puchong, some 20km away. The rent and transport fees alone could cripple them financially. They also argue that the place in Puchong lacks basic facilities like public transport and a government hospital or clinic.

Saravanan said there’s still a chance for some of the really deserving cases (families who had school-going children and those who were sickly and required medical attention) to be allocated units in nearer housing areas, but there are only few units available.  The local MIC branch is helping to find places for these cases.

“They can still appeal as the MIC office in Kampung Pandan is still taking in appeals from those who have valid reasons as to why they cannot move to areas that are far away,” he said.

On requests whether they could be relocated to Seri Alam public housing sheme, which is only 4km away, Saravanan said Seri Alam is meant for the permanent relocation of squatters.

Meanwhile, Kampung Pandan MIC branch chairman P. Sritharan said he had received about 70 appeals from the residents so far, and out of that number, 15 families were recently given the keys and pledge letters (Surat Aku Janji) by the DBKL to move to nearby units.

“It was not easy selecting these families as priority for units located near Kampung Pandan were given to needy cases like single mothers and those with chronic diseases who require medical attention from nearby government hospitals and clinics,” he said.

Anyway, demolition is expected in October, hopefully after Deepavali. So, time is running out for the families.