KUALA LUMPUR: Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) today slammed the eviction of seven families from the PPR Padang Tembak flats by the Penang state government.
Its executive director, Sevan Doraisamy, called on the Penang government to provide appropriate assistance and relocation for those affected by the eviction.
He also urged it to ensure that its current development plans included the construction of new low-cost houses or apartments to accommodate the needs of the poor in the state.
Sevan said such “forced evictions” were a gross violation of a broad range of human rights.
“This practice effectively puts the families affected in a state of homelessness and causes them to potentially lose access to food, education, health care, employment and makes them vulnerable to organised crime and other social ills.
“The duty and responsibility of the state ought to be for the welfare of its people.
“In dealing with urban poverty, the government of the day must take a proactive role in addressing the inadequate public housing and tackle the cause of rampant poverty within society.
“The forced eviction led by a state government makes a mockery of the inherent duty of the state.”
He said Suaram could not accept the “insistence of the Penang state government to hide behind the claims that 1,800 other families are on the waiting list for low-cost flats”.
This claim, he said, rather brought into question the Penang government’s development plans of the past decade and raised the question of what the state government had done to mitigate and prevent the situation from escalating to its current point.
“Furthermore, the claim of a ‘better’ eviction practice, in comparison with Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), is equally detestable as it suggests that their approach to eviction indemnifies the Penang state government from the gross human rights violations by the state.”
It was reported that five of the families were “camping out” at the state administrative building at Komtar, holding placards to protest the eviction.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state housing department began enforcement action six months ago.
He said the residents were then given a six-month extension to look for alternative housing after they appealed.
“The issue is that they no longer qualify to occupy such units, either because their income level has exceeded the requirement or because of foreign spouses, or because of the arrears of rent.
“There is a clear cause of action taken by the state housing department according to their guidelines,” he added.