KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said today Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will tear down remaining  homes in Kg Chubadak Tambahan defying a High Court injunction prohibiting such action until June 26.

In a report by news portal Malaysiakini, the Kuala Lumpur mayor said that the villagers have allegedly been illegal squatters on the land for 20 years.

“Yes, demolition work will continue as the court has decided on this [before],” the mayor was reported as saying.

He was referring to a Sessions Court decision which went against the villagers, which is currently in appeal.

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“This is what they have filed, (but) we will continue demolition work,” he added, referring to the injunction obtained on June 12.

Last night, Ahmad Phesal had told the villagers recently evicted to move out to the flats awarded by DBKL  instead of illegally occupying the land.

According to him, the villagers’ decades-old houses were demolished because the land no longer belongs to them, as it has been sold to developers who now have the right to develop the area.

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The status of the land in Kg Chubadak Tambahan is still pending on a High Court case due to be heard on June 27, with villagers insisting that they own the land as urban pioneers.

A Court of Appeal decision in 2000 had previously refuted claims that the villagers were squatters and trespassers, insisting that they occupied the land as licensees and with the consent of the state authority.

However, DBKL went ahead and demolished three houses on Monday last week as part of a clearing process that had started in 2013 in order to make way for future development.

The demolition was temporarily halted on Thursday, however, after activists and PAS representatives managed to obtain a High Court injunction, staying the demolition until the case is heard.

Several villagers have since vowed to occupy the land to keep vigil against any surprise intrusion by DBKL before the end of the injunction period.