KUALA LUMPUR, July 10: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Members of Parliament claimed that the River of Life (ROL) project launched by the Federal Government for the beautification of the Klang and Gombak rivers have oppressed about 100 residents of Kampung Puah Seberang in the area.
This is because, according to Wangsa Maju MP, Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong, the project which cost RM4 billion caused the residents to lose their homes because their land was taken by the Central Government.
What’s more unfortunate is that the residents were offered only low-cost flats by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to rent and a compensation of RM1000 to each family.
“As a representative of the people, I am curious as to how the government could implement the project on Malay reserve land.
“The government took the entire 22 acres of land while some residents claimed ownership and that they have been staying there for a long time.
“The compensation given is insufficient to meet the needs of residents to pay their house rent,” he said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
Meanwhile, Batu Member of Parliament, Tian Chua said that the Central Government seems to be considerate when taking the residents land to be privatised to pay for the cost of cleaning up both the rivers.
He added that no transparency was practiced in the project when the government was said to pay a higher value to the contractor compared with paying compensation to the residents in the area.
He stressed that the residents were previously promised with the purchase of medium-cost homes but DBKL overturned the decision to low-cost houses at the last minute.
Therefore, he asked DBKL to review the compensation given to ensure that the residents would not be left out when the project is implemented.
“If you want cleaning to be done by just paying the residents RM1000, then we outright reject it.
“With this kind of money, they would not get comfortable homes,” he said.
The ROL project which was launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in year 2011 was an initial project identified in the Greater Kuala Lumpur Greater Economic Area under the Government Transformation Programme.
It aims to change the look of the rivers flowing through the heart of Kuala Lumpur city by performing restoration work to the rivers and beautifying the river banks as well as to develop a river corridor.
