Low-cost Houses For Kg Medan Victims

MIC has not forgotten the victims of the Kg Medan clashes and has offered 30 people low-cost houses constructed by the Bukit Hitam Developer. The 30 comprise of 22 victims and two others who were detained in the clashes in March 2001. The clashes left six dead and 78 others injured.

The other recipients of the low-cost houses are six single mothers.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu who visited Kg Medan during the height of the clashes promised to help the affected people obtain low-cost houses.

The MIC-owned Social Strategic Foundation (YSS) played a major role in negotiating for the low-cost houses to enable the people to move to better living conditions.

YSS assistant director K. Barmasevam said this will also help the families forget the trauma which they had experienced, with some having lost their loved ones. He said Samy Vellu had instructed YSS to ensure that the promises made to the residents were fulfilled, as they had no one else to depend on. Barmasevam said the MIC and YSS had secured 94 low-cost houses from four different developers for the victims, with the first balloting for the 30 houses undertaken recently, with the assistance of Selangor State Executive Councillor Datuk K. Sivalingam.

“YSS will also help arrange for loans with lower repayments for the low-cost house owners,” he said. Muralitharan, a recipient who is working as a clerk at the Shah Alam magistrate’s court, said he was very grateful to have obtained a low-cost house. “I must thank Samy Vellu for his assistance. I never dreamt of owning a house,” he said. Single mother, Sri Valli is also elated about getting the low-cost house. “I now pay a high rental for the squatter house in Kg Medan. With this house I can concentrate on providing a better education for my two sons,” she said.

Her husband died in an accident three years ago.

(Submitted on 28th January 2003)