*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
{ Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net }
{ Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] }
{ Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] }
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 400,000 squatters live there amid rampant unemployment
By Wan Hamidi Hamid
IN KUALA LUMPUR
THEY are the hidden population of Klang Valley, some 400,000
squatters, mostly Malays and Indians, who live in 440 shanty towns on the
fringes of the Kuala Lumpur.
The recent racial unrest has put the focus on these economically-depressed
areas and the urban poor who call these places home.
Since migrating from villages all over Malaysia in the 1970s, the squatters
have built colonies around the city.
Initially, most of the squatters were Malays, invited by Tun Abdul Razak's
government to provide the workforce in the capital.
Later, the Indians joined the Malays when rubber estates were sold off to
make way for industrialisation in the early 1980s.
Most of them found jobs as hawkers, drivers, bus conductors, security
guards, factory workers and manual labourers in the area.
'Now there are almost half a million squatters in the Klang Valley alone.
Ruling parties like Umno have been providing some areas with electricity
and water for political reasons, but when it is time for demolition, most of
the squatters have been left on their own,' said Dr Nasir Hashim, former
lecturer turned squatter activist.
In the 1990s, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
decided to make Malaysia an industrialised country, many squatter
settlements had to make way for factories.
Despite being promised compensation and proper houses, most of them
were left in the lurch after being evicted.
Rapid industrialisation also meant that the government relinquished most of
its social responsibilities to the private sector, and many companies ignored
the plight of the poor, said Dr Nasir.
After the 1997 economic crisis, development was slow in Malaysia. Thus,
not many squatter colonies were disturbed.
But at the same time, according to the Urban Resource Unit (URU), a
non-governmental organisation (NGO) handling squatter issues,
unemployment became rampant among young people.
This was especially so among the 130,000 Indian squatters in the Klang
Valley.
With no basic amenities and no recreational facilities, these youths have
formed gangs to protect their territory.
When this process takes off, some squatter areas become ideal places for
other criminals and drug pushers to recruit members.
'The situation becomes worse when some rich people hire the gangs to
commit crime,' said URU coordinator Miss S. Paremeswari.
With Umno only concentrating on helping some of the Malay squatters,
Indian squatters started to feel that they were being discriminated against.
This led to an uneasy relationship between some Malays and Indians.
Together, both ethnic groups make up about 90 per cent of the squatter
colonies in the city.
Of the remaining 10 per cent, most are Indonesians.
According to Kuala Lumpur City Hall statistics, there are about 130,000
squatters in the city, but NGOs such as the Urban Pioneers Support
Committee put the figure at more than 200,000.
City Hall has built 65,000 low-cost flats to accommodate 325,000 people
while the Selangor government, building a similar number of houses, has set
2005 as its target to reduce the number of squatters to zero.
But even government leaders are worried about the never-ending problem
______________________________________________________________
This email has been sent through 2b at http://www.2bmail.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB)
( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB)
( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan )
( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net )
( Bermasalah? Sila hubungi [EMAIL PROTECTED] )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pengirim: "Temingat Di Belantara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
