Despite receiving three eviction notices, the estate workers at Ladang Elmina in Sungai Buloh refused to vacate their quarters unless they are assured of replacement housing, reported The Star.
A part of Sime Darby Property’s Bandar Elmina project, the 388.7ha affected site has been earmarked for affordable housing project.
“We have been living here for three generations over 50 years…The first generation worked as rubber tappers and second generation as oil palm estate workers. The third generation has a mix of those working in the estate and in the nearby town,” said third-generation resident Frank Vel Manuel.
“We have been asked by the developer to move out to make way for the project. We are asking for free housing and compensation for the 17 affected estate workers…We want the low-cost flats that are expected to be built in Bandar Elmina to be fully completed, then we will move in.”
Dated 13 April, the latest eviction notice received by the worker from the developer had given the workers 14 days within which to vacate their homes, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) Secretary-General A. Sivarajan revealed.
“However, there is no assurance that the workers will be given alternative housing,” he said.
According to him, the estate workers had entered into a settlement agreement with the developer and landowner in March 2016, in which the terms of compensation and evacuation were listed.
“However, the workers did not know that the settlement agreement they signed was not a document that could be used in court…They are asking for a sale and purchase (S&P) agreement instead, as the settlement agreement is non-binding,” said Sivarajan.
He added that the workers are not keen on the interim housing offered to them and want to remain in Ladang Elmina.
When contacted, a spokesman for Sime Darby Property said the company with the help of National Union of Plantation Workers had informed the group of 14 former plantation workers in April 2015 of its plans to develop the land into a mixed-use development.
“Sime Darby Property offered to allocate affordable housing units in Elmina West priced at RM42,000 to each worker and agreed to subsidise RM17,000 of the price…In addition, we agreed to bear moving costs and place them in temporary quarters located within the area of Elmina West,” he explained.
“The temporary housing will improve living conditions with adequate and clean water supply. In return, the former workers were required to vacate their premises by an agreed date.”
While 12 out of 14 former workers had signed a settlement agreement – which was translated in Tamil by a Union member – with the developer, the group requested to have free landed housing instead three weeks after the signing.
“The group also alleged that they were misled, and that the settlement agreement was in fact the S&P agreement for the houses,” he said.
“This is clearly not true. Subsequently, Sime Darby Property spent another three months to engage the group to find a mutually acceptable solution but to no avail.”
He noted that since the notices were ignored, the workers give the company no choice but to seek a court order for the land to be vacated.
“We regret the position taken by the workers and the unfortunate turn of events, but we are merely exercising our legitimate rights as the owner of the land,” added the spokesman.
Image sourced from The Star Online
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