Jungle colony worrying residents

Photo from Guang Ming Daily 11/10/2009

Our play area: This looks like a makeshift playground amid the wooden homes in one of the foreign colonies that the residents ventured into

The presence of a settlement of foreigners hidden in the jungles of Kepong hill, near Segambut, is causing much fear and concern among residents in the area. The hill is a popular spot for joggers and trekkers, but deeper into it are wooden huts and houses sheltered by bushes and overgrown trees. Angus Ng, who lives in Taman Flora Impian housing area just a short distance down the foothill, said many residents and their families felt their safety was being threatened by the existence of the foreigners. “As we are a guarded community, our security personnel said these foreigners would come down from the hill in the wee hours of the morning. Even one of our security men was threatened and slashed,” said Ng, who is the Flora Impian action committee pro tem chairman. “What we want is for the authorities to take action to demolish the settlement, and take the landowner to court if the squatters being harboured here are indeed illegals,” he said. It is learnt that the hill also connects to various other residential townships including Sg Penchala, Desa ParkCity, Bukit Lanjan, Bukit Segambut, Sri Hartamas and Mont Kiara.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said from his own experience of climbing up the hill recently, he could hear chirping noises like that of birds before reaching the area, only to learn later that the sounds were made by humans. “The sounds are made by colony members to alert their own people that there are ‘outsiders’ like us coming in,” said Lim. A resident said there were probably more than 50 wooden houses for this one colony, including a place of worship heavily guarded by dogs. We believe there are more entrenched deeper,” the resident said.

Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Zakaria Pagan said he would immediately check on the matter and take the necessary action. “If these foreigners are involved in crime, we will take action. If they are illegals, we have to seek the assistance of the Immigration Department. But we are not the only ones responsible to book them as the City Hall and other authorities are involved, too,” he said.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/central/ (By LIM CHIA YING, 12/10/2009)