Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: Some 100 residents protesting the development of the Datum Jelatek luxury condominium in Taman Keramat, Selangor, yesterday turned aggressive and broke into the construction site to halt the project.

The residents first began marching peacefully towards the site, before they proceeded to tear down the zinc barrier surrounding it, with several protesters trespassing on the site.

However, police managed to bring the situation under control and the crowd soon dispersed. Two police trucks were seen at the site.

The residents oppose the Datum Jelatek project because they say it would transform the Malay-majority area into a “Chinese district”, as they believe only the Chinese can afford to purchase units at the luxury condominium.

The protest began at 11am, with the residents gathering at the home of one of the organisers near the construction site. Packets of nasi lemak and bottled mineral water were distributed before they started their demonstration.

Spirits were high as they marched towards the site, with many belting the Warisan song, or Anak Kecil Main Api — a song lamenting the loss of the land to outsiders, often played during the heavily-criticised Biro Tata Negara programmes.

The protesters wore bandannas around their head emblazoned with the words “Anak Keramat” (Children of Keramat) to signify they were residents of the area.

Members of the Selangor chapter of Perkasa, as well as the Datum Jelatik Action Committee (BBDJ) could be seen among the rowdy crowd.

BBDJ chairman Salleh Ahmad said the demonstration was organised to warn Selangor Menteri Mohamed Azmin Ali to stop the condominium project, saying that it would open the floodgates to other races entering the Malay-majority area.

“I challenge him to stop this project,” he said. 

One of the residents’ representatives, Ariffin Abu Bakar, urged Azmin to prioritise affordable housing for the locals over projects that would allegedly benefit outsiders.

“We are not anti-development, but we want affordable housing to be built and for the anak Keramat to be given priority,” he said.

The groups that gathered here yesterday said the Datum Jelatek project had ignored the Malays, and that the Malays are unable to afford the condominium units.

This is not their first demonstration against the project.

Last November, Salleh and the residents of Keramat organised a peaceful protest before the Selangor state secretariat building in Shah Alam to pressure the government into halting the condominium’s construction.

Azmin had, however, said recently that the issue was resolved and that he had arranged several meetings with the locals over the matter.

The project developers, DatumCorp, had previously said 1,097 bumiputeras had registered for the condomonium, which far exceeded the 674 units available.

The condominium is to be built on the former site of four blocks of PKNS flats, owned mostly by Malays, which were demolished in late 2010. — The Malaysian Insider

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 26, 2015.

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