During a ground-breaking ceremony of the housing project site near Kampung Semadang about 50km from here on Saturday, there was no official announcement stating that the affected 204 families would get the houses free.
“There was no decision made yet on the matter (free houses) because our main focus now is to build the 204 units of houses and install other basic infrastructure,” said Second Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, who officiated at the event.
The affected families from the four villages, namely Kampung Taba Sait, Kampung Rejoi, Kampung Pa’in/Bojong and Kampung Semban, should have moved to the resettlement scheme in 2010 but the relocation was delayed due to some problems.
They demanded that they be given free houses at the new resettlement after refusing the offer by the Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) to build a house for them at a price of RM89, 000 per unit, stating that they did not want to be burdened by bank loans.
Last Saturday, they were hoping for the good news.
Chairman of the liaisons committee on the resettlement, Itodio Peu said as affected residents were forced to move, so it was just fair they are given free houses.
“The villagers have demanded they be given free houses, along with having their lands, crops and properties to be fully compensated,” he said.
Peu also disagreed with the suggestion for primary school pupils from the four villages to be moved to study at SK Bengoh.
“The idea will not only burden these pupils but also their parents.
“The authority should build the schools and the necessary facilities such as community halls and churches first at the BRS before asking us to move to there,” he said.
Peu said as a result of the construction of the Bengoh dam, 90% of crops planted by villagers of Kampung Taba Sait such as rubber, cocoa, pepper and fruit trees was destroyed.
According to him, the state government had yet to pay compensations for their other properties such as houses, land and crops, as well as monthly financial aid as promised to them.
“We were promised payment of disturbance allowance, but so far no payment has been made,” he said.
The construction of the BRS housing units totalling RM19 million would start this month and is expected to be completed by December this year.
According to Housing Assistant Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, these project would be implemented by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), through its contractor Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd. -TheStar
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