E Contrario

A SOS sms was received in the morning of 15 November: Kg Chubadak is facing demolition!

This is the section of Kg Chubadak by the edge of Taman Datuk Senu Sentul.

Unannounced visit by DBKL at the kampong

This morning a group of DBKL officers turned up with representatives of the developer and a couple of court bailiffs at the kampong. It was a shock to all. The bailiff proclaimed to the folks that the developer had obtained a court order to demolish 4 houses in Kg Chubadak. The order was to be carried out immediately.

Two houses were reduced to ruins

The demolition was without any notice, the people were caught by surprise. Before the villagers managed to fight back, the bulldozer moved into action. Two houses at the entrance of the kampong was smashed and reduced to rubble. Unfortunately, we then found out that the two houses demolished were not included in the court order. In fact the enforcers had rashly destroyed people’s property.

People arguing with the bailiff

Meanwhile, Suhakam commissioner Sivasubramaniam arrived at the scene. He attempted to intervene, appealed to the developer and DBKL to defer the operation. Earlier, Suhakam had requested the developer and residents to meet up and negotiate a amicable settlement. Yet the developer snubbed Suhakam’s appeal.

Sivasubramaniam Suhakam Commisioner

It happened that I had a prior arrangement with Paul Lim, an old friend who will be returning to Europe this week. I pulled Paul along and rushed to the kampong. We arrived just about noon.

I immediately sought to discuss with DBKL officers. The team was led by Ali Hassan. Suhakam’s Datuk Siva also appealed to him to allow two weeks for the villagers to relocate.

Jo Hann from Komas and I blocking DBKL from entering house

The 4 houses intended to be destroyed had lost their case several years ago. The judgment ruled that the settlers were squatters and merited only a small sum of compensation. They were certainly unhappy with the lost of house and land. After the first case was lost, 60 other houses in the kampong filed another suit to prolong the struggle. The case is still pending in court.

In fact there was no need to hurry with the demolition of only 4 houses. Practically, without a satisfactory settlement for the whole kampong, it is impossible for the developer to proceed with the project. The tactic of the developer, it seemed, was to take on the residents segment by segment—typical old trick of ‘divide and rule’.

DBKL officers sheltered from heavy rain

With the court order, the developer reps insisted the operation must proceed. I objected vigorously. I ended up having very heated arguments with one of them. However the developer remained adamant.

I could sense DBKL, police and other personnel were caught in a dilemma. I believe they were not keen with the confrontation but were bounded by the instruction. In the midst of our fervent exchanges, the rain started pouring. The enforcers were forced to seek shelter and the operation came to a temporary pause.

After some time, when the rain dwindled slightly, DBKL enforcers again made a new attempt to evict the house occupants. They moved deeper into a house in the middle of the kampong.

Refusing to vacate the house

Here they faced even greater defiance. The house occupants displayed stronger passion in resistance. Three of the family members including the head of the household, a 60 year old Pak Cik waved parangs at the intruders. The DBKL team stunned, unsure what to do.

I pleaded again for a suspension of demolition to avoid any tragedy. Finally the bailiff suggested the villagers to sign an agreement stating that they must vacate in two weeks or faced demolition by force. We went to a new round of negotiation. The bailiff said that he would try to persuade to the developer to grant two weeks grace. We rejected the phrase of accepting forced eviction in the agreement. I proposed to change the clause into a pledge that villagers would voluntarily move out once negotiation with developer was held. We proposed that the agreement signed by both villagers and the developer so that they would honour this undertaking.

Negotiating with the bailiffs

Finally, the developer refused to accept the terms. Nonetheless after witnessing the people’s determination to defend their home, the demolition team decided to call off the operation. Led by the developer, the whole battalion left without promising any assurance of no further incursion.

We realized peace is only temporary. They will come back soon, and quite likely with bigger reinforcement. The group gathered and discussed the next steps. It seems that there is no choice but to step up pressure to demand the developer to accept a mutually agreed compensation.

To date the developer has refused to negotiate. Stepping up mobilization is a necessity. All villagers present unanimously agreed that they would launch a sustained campaign on the developer.

Over the weekend, the Kampong Action Committee will meet and plan strategy. Next week, more tough fight ahead…