SISTERS Chan See Yin, 15, and See Kit, 12, are too embarrassed to invite their friends over on weekends because they don’t want them to see where they live. The girls prefer to stay over at their friends place and according to their mother Wong Sih Li, 38, they look out for every opportunity to get away.

The same goes for the Kumar family.

"My unit is leaking and the entire building is slowly falling apart due to termites:- ANGIE ONG

A. Kumar, 41, a taxi driver said his sons Vinod, 14, and Praveen, 10, also tend to spend very little time at home and prefer to spend most of their time at school.

And no one can blame them. The children, born and bred in the 400sq ft units of the Jinjang Utara Longhouse are finding lives in the transit homes unbearable and are seeking a way out.

When StarMetro visited their humble abodes recently, it was difficult to believe that there are people in Kuala Lumpur who still live in such squalid conditions.

The wooden houses, made from sub-standard materials, are literally falling off! Some units have no roof and windows. When it rains it leaks, when it doesn’t, the heat is so intense that you could actually fry an egg on the zinc sheets. Drainage is so bad that water seeps out and no one comes to collect the garbage in the neighbourhood. The entire neighbourhood is a haven for aedes mosquitoes and a playground for rodents and snakes.

Kumar longs for the day he would be able to move into a decent home for the sake of his family and works 16 hours driving his taxi, saving up for that dream to materialise.

Eaten up: A longhouse unit being eroded by termites.

Wong, a housewife, works overtime baby sitting so that she could one day afford to either buy or rent a PPR unit for her daughters.

“Anything is better than this (Jinjang Utara Longhouse). This is hell on earth and I must find a way to get out for my children’s sake,” she sobbed.

“We have lived here long enough and it is time for us to move out for my children’s future,” said lorry driver Mohd Azmi.

The 38-year-old father of two sons also longs for a more decent and comfortable home for his family.

Unhealthy situation: Garbage left uncollected at the Jinjang Utara Longhouse.

Clerk Angie Ong lives in a unit with her brother and his wife and three children.

“It is so cramped and everyone gets into each other’s way all the time. We must move out for the children’s sake. My unit is leaking and the entire building is slowly falling apart due to termites. I was told that in less than a month, the entire place will come crashing down,” she said.

The Jinjang Utara Longhouse was built to temporarily house squatters before they can be relocated to low-cost-homes.

It is the largest longhouse in the Klang Valley and houses some 7,000 people — out of which almost 50% are aged below 25. Built in a row, hence the name longhouse, each row have units measuring 400sq ft in size.

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