Thursday, December 23, 2010

Najib's prompt response gives ex-estate workers hope .

PUTRAJAYA : Less than four hours after submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office, former Bukit Jalil estate workers were given a reprieve. According to Bukit Jalil action committee member K Balakrishnan, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had ordered the Human Resources Ministry and the Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Ministry to look into the matter, which had dragged on for two decades.


Following this, next Monday's slated demolition of eight houses had been postponed to Jan 15.This morning, some 100 former estate workers and their families submitted the memorandum, asking Najib to intervene in their ongoing spat with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

Contacted later, Balakrishnan told FMT that the residents were grateful to Najib for his prompt response.“We submitted the memorandum to Najib's special officer Mohd Amir Harun around 11.30am. He also invited seven of us to his office to discuss the matter.

“Mohd Amir then asked for an hour to talk to (Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister) Raja Nong Chik regarding our plight,” he said.“More than three hours later, he gave us a letter from the ministry informing us that the demolition had been postponed to next month,” he added.

Balakrishnan said although the time-frame was short, it however gave the committee enough space to prepare for its next round of meeting with DBKL.Furthermore, he said Najib had given the former estate workers the green light to discuss about their outstanding salaries and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions during the meeting.

"For now, we have to prepare a letter for both the Human Resources and Federal Territories ministries," he added.The next meeting would involve officials from both the ministries as well.


Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/barisan-nasional/14559-najibs-prompt-response-gives-ex-estate-workers-hope

No comments: