Tuesday August 21, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: More than 400 dwellers of the Lembah Klau Felda settlement near Raub have gone to court to seek hefty damages from the Government for building a dam on their land.
The group of 474 people filed the originating summons through its representative Datuk Abdullah Abu Bakar, 45, the son of a deceased settler. The settlers are not happy with the compensation offered by the Government.
One of the group members who turned up at the courthouse here yesterday said the Government was only giving RM30,000 for every acre (0.4046ha) of land used up by the dam.
The RM3.8bil dam is part of a raw water transfer project between Pahang and Selangor to supply water to Klang Valley consumers.
In his affidavit, Abdullah is seeking damages of at least two acres (0.8092ha) of land for each settler at RM7 per square feet (0.0929 square metre).
He claimed that each settler owned between eight and 10 acres (3.237ha and 4.046ha) of land, excluding the area occupied by their house.
The action was filed at the High Court here last week, but was only extracted and served on the Attorney-General’s Chambers yesterday.
Through the summons, the group wants the court to, among others, declare the real value of the land and compel the Government to disclose the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the area.
In Abdullah’s affidavit, he claimed the settlers were pioneers who had left the comfort of their homes around the country to toil the hard earth of the Felda land 43 years ago.
“We have gone through extreme hardship clearing the land and cultivating it without basic amenities.
“We have also courageously faced wild animals, terrorists, diseases, and the harsh weather to keep our promise to develop the land,” he claimed.
Abdullah also lamented that the Government’s move to build a dam would change the ecosystem of the land, which had since been transformed into a mini agricultural township.
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