Minister never said he had 16 meetings with residents

KUALA LUMPUR: Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam did not state that he held 16 meetings with the Bukit Jalil residents, whose houses are slated for demolition, said his press secretary E Sivabalan.He was responding to news reports which quoted a representative of the residents, K Balakrishnan, as saying that the residents had only met the minister once.According to Sivabalan, the minister had told a press conference on Aug 6 that the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) and its representatives had 11 rounds of discussions with the Federal Terri­tories and Urban Well-being Ministry and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and another 16 meetings with officials from the Manpower Department.

He also noted that the Bukit Jalil estate issue began as early as 1980 when DBKL had earmarked the estate for redevelopment. “The Manpower Department held several meetings with NUPW and its representatives since the former workers filed their claims for compensation with the department in 2008. “It was within this context that he explained that some 16 meetings were held with the Manpower.Department. The said meetings (16 meetings) were between the officials of the Manpower Department, NUPW and DBKL since 2008,” said Sivabalan.The meetings in 2008 took place on May 15, 16, 27, June 12, 24, Aug 1, Sept 15 and Dec 3. In 2009, the meetings were held on Jan 16, May 19, June 5, July 7, Aug 12, Aug 15 an Oct 10. The last meeting was on April 14, this year.

"We are prepared to make available the dates of the meetings at any time to prove our point," said Sivabalan. Sivabalan also refuted a report in Tamil daily Makkal Osai which quoted the minister as saying that the flat units offered to the residents were priced at RM80,000 per unit.“I wish to point out that he had never mentioned anything to this effect. What he mentioned at the press conference was that each of the former workers had been offered a RM35,000 low-cost unit flat with a RM2,000 rebate and relocation expenses of RM1,000. “It was a DBKL official who had once said that the market value of each unit cost RM80,000. At no time, did he (Subramaniam) mention that each unit were priced at RM80,000,” he said.
Last week, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had ordered DBKL to put the demolition of the houses on hold until an amicable solution was reached.

Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/news/general/8949-minister-never-said-he-had-16-meetings-with-residents