No proper home: 3 families living inside 5m-wide containers wait on PPR promise

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No proper home: 3 families living inside 5m-wide containers wait on PPR promise

For R Saraswathi Devi, daily life now takes place inside a cramped, 5.5m-wide metal container in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur. When she needs to prepare meals for her husband and two young daughters, aged 12 and 14, she steps outside to a makeshift open kitchen.

When nature calls, all four of them must share a single outdoor toilet and bathroom with two other households.

Though basic electricity is wired into the containers, conditions remain far from the comforts of the real homes they once knew.

Next door...

Next door, Saraswathi’s 77-year-old mother-in-law lives alongside Saraswathi’s married daughter and a son-in-law who undergoes regular dialysis.

In the third container, 58-year-old car spray painter G Muruga Raja spends his days in deep worry over his wife’s deteriorating health while living in such conditions.

From afar, the site next to a driving school in Kampung Segambut Bahagia resembles a scrap metal yard or an illegal squatter settlement. Up close, it is the temporary refuge of these three families for nearly three months now while waiting for promised public housing.

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Saraswathi lived in Kampung Segambut Dalam for 30 years until a private entity allegedly bought the land.

While 10 other families in the village allegedly accepted a RM3,000 buyout and moved, Saraswathi and Muruga’s families refused, knowing the sum wouldn't cover rent in Kuala Lumpur.

"We chose not to take the money because we felt we couldn't afford to find a rental home with RM3,000.

"We went straight to the MP's office to ask for help after the landowner told us only the MP's office could help us get a People’s Housing Project (PPR) house," she told Malaysiakini.

PPR promise

All three families pinned their hopes on the office of Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who is also the minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories).

According to Saraswathi, they first submitted their PPR housing applications at the constituency office in July last year.

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"The office promised to secure PPR homes for us. However, every time we checked, we received almost the same answer," Saraswathi (above) claimed.

"Officers informed us that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) was still processing our application. We called, sent documents, and sent videos of our old home's condition, but no action was taken," the 55-year-old said.

During that year-long wait, the families acknowledged receiving a one-off cash aid of RM1,500 from the MP's office. However, it was far short of what was needed to rent in the capital.

Saraswathi claimed that the landowner demolished their original homes in July this year and then provided the three containers as temporary shelter.

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Begging for help

During a recent meeting with DBKL, Saraswathi alleged that an officer informed them their application file had not even been opened yet. Instead, her husband was issued a "yellow notice", which she said she did not understand the meaning of.

A check by Malaysiakini of the official letter, dated Sept 10, confirmed that the application to rent a PPR home had been registered and met DBKL's eligibility criteria, though no timeline for placement was stated.

Living inside the small container is an added strain for families already managing health challenges. Doctors advised Saraswathi not to work due to medical issues, while her husband cannot do heavy lifting and relies on occasional part-time manual labour.

Muruga (below) similarly alleged that repeated visits to the MP's constituency office yielded no results.

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"I went to the MP's office repeatedly; sometimes there was no one there.

"They told me not to worry and then asked me to go home. I told them my wife couldn't stay here and begged them to help, but it yielded nothing. We even asked if we could meet the minister, but were told to go to Putrajaya," he lamented.

‘Minister must go to the ground’

The situation has drawn criticism from Federal Territory MIC chairperson Rajah Symon, a former DBKL Advisory Board member, who urged Yeoh to personally inspect the site.

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"The minister must go down to the ground, visit these families, and see their conditions inside those containers for herself.

"As a minister, there is no excuse for being unable to provide PPR homes for them. Even if they were deemed ineligible, the minister still holds the executive authority to secure housing for residents in her own constituency," he said when contacted.

Malaysiakini's attempts to reach Yeoh’s office and DBKL for comment since Monday have gone unanswered.

What is new. It clearly shows the caliber and commitment of our leaders in our cabinet. Instead of look at the rakyat's welfare, they rather waste rakyat money on sue sana, sue sini.

Malaysia is doomed to fail with this government for sure.

Well, Hannah Yeoh is only interested if the case can generate exciting social media attention. Otherwise, you won’t even get a response from her officers.