PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday agreed that residents of Kampung Chubadak Tambahan in Sentul were not squatters but licence holders of the land the village was located in, and had the right to be compensated accordingly.

The court ordered the reinstatement of a suit by the residents, asking that Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the developer halt their project.

The suit was struck out earlier this year.

Justice Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim, Justice Datuk Mah Weng Kwai and Justice Dr Prasad Sandosham Abraham decided that lawyers representing the residents to reinstate the suit.

The case will be remitted to the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov 24 for mention.

A total of 31 villagers, including 72-year-old Wahida Mat Salleh, whose home (pic) was destroyed on Oct 28, were present in court yesterday.

In July last year, the High Court ruled that the villagers had no right to claim ownership of the land as they are “squatters” on state-owned land. It cited a Federal Court ruling in 1982 that declared them as having no right either in law or equity.

The villagers said they had a right to the land as they were among the earliest to settle in the area.

They sued the Federal Land Commissioner, the director of Federal Territories’ Lands and Mines Department, DBKL, and developer Sentul Murni Sdn Bhd.

The villagers were represented by PAS Law and Human Rights Department officials Ahmad Zamri Asa’ad Khuzaimi, Ahmad Fazarudin, Zakariya Ahmad Zamri Asa’ad Khuzaimi and Mohd Fitri. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 14, 2014.