No place to go: Affected tenants showing their eviction notices and appeal letters to Ooi (second left). — CHA N BOON KAI/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Scores of residents are now staring at a bleak future after being locked out from their homes at the People’s Housing Projects (PPR) in Rifle Range.

Although they have been given a lifeline until today, many of them fear they have no other places to go after being served with an eviction notice.

Indian national Jamrahth Nisha Hajah Mydeen, 28, said she had been staying at the unit with her mother and three siblings for more than 16 years.

“Where should we go now? We don’t have relatives and only one of my three siblings is working now.

She said they had appealed to the state Housing Department but the application was rejected.

Tenants removing their belongings from a unit with a notice saying that the unit has been sealed. — CHA N BOON KAI/The Star

Jamrahth Nisha was among 15 tenants whose units were sealed by the state Housing Department enforcement officers on Tuesday.

However, they have been given until today to remove their belongings and vacate the units.

Each tenant has to pay RM110 in monthly rent and maintenance fees for staying in a PPR unit.

Cleaner W. Gertrude, 35, who also received the eviction notice, said she and a few others spent nearly nine hours to get clarification on the matter at various offices in Komtar.

She claimed they were given the runaround and treated rudely by the officers.

“I’m staying alone and I don’t know anyone or anywhere to go if I am kicked out from here.

“I know I have arrears but for the past three years, I have been paying RM360 as monthly instalment in order to clear my debt.

“I only earn about RM1,000 and I have utility bills and personal expenses to look after,” she said.

Ooi said although there were laws to be followed, the state government should look from the humanitarian aspect in this matter.

He said the state government should look for amicable solutions instead of evicting and leaving them in the lurch.

“The residents affected are from the low-income groups,” he said.

State Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the cumulative rent and maintenance arrears owed by the residents had run into tens of thousands of ringgit.

He said those staying at PPR units need to fulfil certain requirements, such as the household income must be less than RM1,500 and both spouses must be Malaysian citizens.

“Action has to be taken when the criteria are not met. We have to be strict on the issue of eligibility.

“However, the affected residents can still put up an appeal and we will look into it,” he said during a press conference at the Penang Police Sikh Gurdwara yesterday.

According to him, Penang has the least number of PPR units in the country.

There are 1,662 people on the waiting list.

“It is not fair to allow people who are no longer eligible to stay in these units,” he said.