SHAH ALAM, Dec 2 — A total of 19 residents of Kampung Jawa, Klang, affected by the land evacuation for the West Coast Expressway (WCE) project have applied to join the Smart Rent scheme as temporary accommodation.
State executive councillor for housing and culture Datuk Borhan Aman Shah said that although all affected residents have submitted their applications, admission to the Smart Rent units remains subject to the state government's approval procedures and rental conditions.
“All 19 residents have applied for Smart Rent, but to move in, they must follow the procedures,” he told the press after the 2025 Skim Ceria Assistance presentation ceremony today.
Borhan added that residents have also requested expedited admission, but their appeal for one year’s rent to be covered needs to be reviewed, as it would incur nearly RM200,000 in costs for all families.
He said the Smart Rent units offered are within a radius of less than 10 kilometres of the village, with four selected locations, including units with swimming pool facilities, and monthly rentals of RM900.
“For me, temporary accommodation does not need to be as long as a year; six months is sufficient. So far, although all have applied, no residents have moved into those units yet,” Borhan said.
He emphasised that only legitimate owners are eligible for consideration for Smart Rent admission, and the state government does not allow the units to be rented out to other parties, especially foreign nationals.
Regarding the overall WCE issue in Kampung Jawa, the councillor said the state government has provided various concessions, including several postponements of evacuation orders, but the process dragged on due to the residents' requests.
The land acquisition was carried out according to procedure, and compensation payments of 75 per cent have been disbursed to eligible landowners.
“The final postponement was granted after the residents filed an injunction, but the court dismissed it. There were no incidents today; I monitored the situation myself since morning, and everything went smoothly,” he said.
Of the total 1.92 hectares of land involved, only 0.72 hectares are required for the WCE alignment.
“The remaining three acres (1.2 hectares) will be returned to the owners with new titles, and they may apply to upgrade the land use,” Borhan said.
The long-standing conflict between Kampung Jawa residents and the Section 3 WCE project, which has persisted for nearly six years, concluded peacefully after the demolition of homes in the affected 0.73-hectare area began at 8am today.
