Man sues council for depriving him of home
06/03/2007 The Star

SUNGAI PETANI: A kacang putih seller is suing the Sungai Petani Municipal Council (MPSPK) for depriving him of his resettlement “dream home” promised to him 14 years ago by a housing developer which has since gone bust.

K. Siva Gurunathan, 56, a former resident of Jalan Pengkalan had willingly vacated his home built on temporary occupation land in March 1993 after being promised RM20,000 in compensation by the developer. The money was used in lieu as a down payment for a low-cost “resettlement” home.

On the advice of the then Kuala Muda District Council, now known as MPSPK, Siva signed an agreement with the developer and was paid a RM200 rental from April 1993 until June last year when the developer’s company folded up.

Siva now stays with his daughter and collects scraps daily to sell in order to support his wife A. Sinnamah, 53, who is unwell.

Siva and two other squatters M. Muniandy, 47, and V. Thiagarajan, 42, have lodged a police report against the MPSPK for mediating over his transaction without looking out for the squatters’ best interests.

“There is no way for us to find enough money to buy a house at our age now,” he said at The Star office here yesterday.

MPSPK president Adzmi Din when informed that Siva had lodged a police report against MPSPK yesterday said: ”I’ve asked my officers to retrieve the files though it was 14 years ago.

“What I know is that the state government had approved the land acquisition by the defunct Cayman (developer) during the tenure of former Kedah Mentri Besar (Tan Seri Osman Aroff),” he said.