Chua: Federal Govt will help

BARISAN Nasional’s Bagan constituency co-ordinator David Chua says he will seek funds from the Federal authorities to buy a piece of land to resettle the remaining 70 families living in the Rumah Hijau longhouses in Mak Mandin.

He said the party could not wait for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to negotiate terms with owners of three parcels of land near the original site to buy up one of the parcels for the same purpose.

“Back in March, he took representatives from the Rumah Hijau Bagan Residents Association to meet officers at the Housing and Local Government Ministry to apply for funds to build a low-cost flat block.

“As a result from that visit, the National Housing Department wrote a letter to them saying that it was willing to consider their application.

“I am confident the Federal Government will provide the funds to buy an alternative piece of land somewhere else, as well as funds to build the replacement housing units,” he told a press conference yesterday.

On Monday, Lim had said that the state government was prepared to buy or acquire a 1ha plot of land in Mak Mandin to assist the Federal Government in the relocation of all 240 families from the Rumah Hijau longhouses.

Lim had said that the state had identified three parcels of land, each measuring about 1ha near the longhouses, as options to facilitate the construction of a replacement flat block.

Chua said he disagreed with Lim’s move on Tuesday to ask the Federal Government to build 350 replacement flat units for the over 300 families, who originally stayed at the Rumah Hijau longhouses.

He said most of the families have already moved into housing units in a low-cost flat block in Ampang Jajar, built by a private developer in 2009.

“I do not see why we have to drag them out of their housing units in Ampang Jajar as many had spent a lot of money to renovate their units.

“However, I will conduct a survey to determine how many families are willing to give up their Ampang Jajar flat units and join the remaining 70 families in seeking for replacement units in their old Rumah Hijau site itself,” he said.

Chua also quizzed the state what it planned to do with the Ampang Jajar flat units of those families that opt to move out and occupy units in the proposed replacement flat block in the Rumah Hijau area.

“Is the state saying that these families are entitled to two housing units, one in Ampang Jajar and another in the proposed flat block at the Rumah Hijau site?.

“Or is the state delaying this for political purposes?” he said.