End of the line for Kampung Railway

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 ― Meera Cynthia has stayed in the same house her whole life; there, she was born, raised and wed; there, she raised her three children.

But as of last night, the house along with others in Kampung Railway in Sentul are are no more. It was torn down to make way for a mixed development by Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (SRSB), a subsidiary of infrastructure giant YTL Corporation Bhd, after a long-drawn battle.

“So many things have happened in this house. We have seen so many weddings, so many wonderful things... but we accept that we have to give it up,” the 42-year-old housewife said of her home.

Meera's home — which was expanded over the years to accomodate eight families — was one of the three last houses to be torn down as a demolition crew moved in to clear the land to make way for the SRSB project.

A fleet of excavators and bulldozers, along with dozens of workers, came into the village as early as 6.30am yesterday tear down the houses vacated by over 100 families who accepted a deal to relocate to low-cost flats in Bukit Jalil, plus a RM18,000 one-off payment to cover transportation costs for three years.

Meena’s family is one of 30 who refused to accept the deal, arguing that the flats offered in Bukit Jalil were reputedly a haunt for drug addicts and gangs after being left abandoned for years. Instead, they are seeking landed property of equal value to the offered flats at any location other than Bukit Jalil.

Long-time Kg Railway resident Meera Cynthia says the eviction marks the end of their communal way of life.

Meera’s uncle, 60-year-old Shanmugam Suppa, said it was “cruel” of the developer to relocate the many elderly residents ― especially those like himself who are disabled and in need of regular medical attention ― to Bukit Jalil that he categorised as a far-flung area poorly accessible by public transport.

“Seven years ago, I was in an accident which left me paralysed from my chest down to my toes. I also need to go to GH regularly to check on my heart condition,” he said, referring to the nearby Hospital Kuala Lumpur by its previous acronyms when it was then the KL General Hospital.

“Even from here, it’s hard for me to even get a taxi because they don’t want to deal with the disabled... you tell me, do you think it will be easy for me to travel all the way from Bukit Jalil?” he added.

A bulldozer makes quick work of one of the vacant houses at Kg Railway in Sentul.

SRSB representatives on site yesterday argued that they had given ample time for all the residents to take up the offer, which they claimed was negotiated by the villagers themselves together with Federal Territories Deputy Minister Datuk Loga Bala Mohan, PKR’s Batu MP Tian Chua and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officials.

“They have been told to move to Bukit Jalil first, and after three years they can have the option to buy a medium-cost unit here in Sentul at RM42,000 each. That is almost 80 per cent below the market price,” said a representative who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak on behalf of SRSB or YTL.

“They agreed so many times to relocate but every time there is a change in minister, they come up with more demands. This time, the deal was negotiated by the residents themselves, and this includes the demolition date which was originally last week.

Residents of Kg Railway sit back as they watch their home get torn down while they wait for a lorry to pick up their belongings for their move to low-cost flats in Bukit Jalil.

“They were issued the latest offer letter on December 5, and they had from December 15 to 19 to move out as agreed during the negotiations but they still asked for one week’s extension... that week is up,” the representative said, stressing that at no point was the developer involved in the negotiations.

The company representative also alleged that some individuals were trying to profit by claiming to be one of the villagers affected by the project, despite having moved out years before and renting out their houses to foreigners.

Fourth generation Kampung Railway resident, Cecil James, 41, said they are not against any plans to develop the city, but stressed that it must never be at the expense of the poor.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall enforcement officers help residents pack up before demolition workers tear down their house in Kg Railway.

She railed against YTL’s “Christian board members” for going ahead with the demolition work on Boxing Day, a day after Christians the world over celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.

“We are for development, but please make us part of the development. We have been talking to the ministry, DBKL, and we even said it in court. We want to leave, but it has to be with proper compensation.

“We are not asking for extra. We are asking for a terrace house in whatever location at the same value as the flats, a place that is safe and we also want the RM18,000 compensation.

A resident breaks down in her son's arms after seeing the state of their home, which was scheduled for demolition at Kg Railway.

“We can’t have our children living in a drug den... just give us a decent home,” said Cecil, who added that the remaining families will likely continue to stay put until their demands are met despite the Sunday deadline to move out.

For Meena, their greatest sacrifice would be the way of life that has kept their family whole.

“We love this place. People last time would say ‘Sentul? It’s full of gangsters!’ Yes, that is all part of the history of this place, but they never bothered to come in and look at all the love the families have for each other here.

A boy looks into his former home as workers went about with the scheduled demolition of houses in Kg Railway in Sentul.

“We know we have to move, this is not our land anymore. But after so many years of our families living together, we’ll be separated... at least give us something reasonable. We are all just heartsick over this situation,” she said.

What had been a sombre but orderly affair turned unruly yesterday afternoon when the families clashed with DBKL and police officers who entered into their housing compound to forcefully evict the holdouts, despite a purported agreement that they be allowed an extension until Sunday to vacate the homes.

Shanmugam Suppa, 60, says having to leave Kg Railway, where he was born, raised and had his own family, would be difficult.

The scuffle between the families and the authorities accompanying workers tasked with moving their belongings to make way for demolition led to the detention of seven people, including a minor and two women.

The families also rejected keys to their allocated units at the Bukit Jalil flats that were handed out after the altercation, insisting that they be given the link houses they are demanding.

They will now seek temporary shelter for themselves and their belongings at a temple along Jalan 12 in Sentul.

A wall-sized painting of the Last Supper adorns one wall of a house in Kg Railway. All the houses in the village were scheduled for demolition yesterday.

The land on which Kampung Railway, which has been home to over five generations of families here, was sold to YTL in the 1990s in a privatisation deal but had been left alone until SRSB’s recent plans to develop the area.

The families had sued last year in a bid to keep the land but settled with SRSB out of court in September.