It’s like a bad dream… but it’s more than that. At least with a nightmare, we can soon forget about it. But no matter how hard we try, Kg Buah Pala won’t go away. When an injustice has been perpetrated, it will fester like an open sore, causing the entire body pain and anguish. In our anguish, the questions linger:
Why is it taking so long for the MACC to carry out its investigations after several reports have been lodged?
What is the outcome of the probe into the land deal by the Penang state government’s investigative committee?
Why are Koh Tsu Koon, his former deputies and those in charge of land deals back then not shedding more light into this fiasco? Why was prime land sold for peanuts?
Why is Mohd Faridz Karim, the main shareholder of Asia Link-up Sdn Bhd (the parent company of Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd) keeping very quiet?
How was MPPP permission given before the land title was registered in the name of the Koperasi?
Why is the Koperasi proceeding with its condo development plan with Nusmetro when there is a restriction on the temporary land title forbidding any transactions?
P Gunasegaram, managing editor of Star Biz, raises five other important questions here.
Kg Buah Pala is not just another village. It is also a symbol of what the rest of us have largely lost in the concrete jungles of our age. Here’s a reflection I wrote for Aliran:
Yesterday’s (13 Aug) unsuccessful demolition of Kg Buah Pala revealed how strongly the villagers feel for their homes and the affinity they have for the land.
Women, men and children marched up to confront grunting bulldozers and a menacing demolition team backed by red-helmeted riot police. The developer and his team were clearly taken aback by the resilience and determination the villagers displayed in defending their homes. Full article here.
Yes right, we are all right, both pro LGE and pro villagers. Now pro LGE, for undying support whether it is the truth that we want to accept or the truth that we want to believe. Pro villagers, again the same issue.
Simply decipher that applies for both parties, what is the truth and how far has the truth surfaced or allowed to surface for both those parties to ensure that people today those folks in Kg Buah Pala that could be you and me tomorrow will be assured of a fair,just and truthful governance. Isn’t that why we made the change in Penang.
Let’s not dwelve in what and how it should be, but what is truthful, just and fair taking the trouble to understand the issues in hand before being pro LGE or pro villagers. You can defeat others in literally sense or through mass media but you can never defeat truth at least for yourself as that is your conscience. So let’s take some trouble to understand the truth if that is what you individually seek for the community that you live in wherever you are or whoever you maybe.
Both the pro LGE and pro villagers should join hands and seek the truth and what is righful in dictating the course for the society that is harmonious for the society to co-exist if the truth prevails.
Stop listening to another, make your own judgement based on your intuition without a self driven agenda for the community irrespective of the origin for the community that we live in. If that fails, then I really don’t have much to say other than we created our own destruction. Sayonara (Japanese- means goodbye) to truth, just and fairness amongst Malaysians.
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K said this ,’However, mark my words…KBP will never die. LGE and his incompetant exco will be buried in the next GE’
Well said!
If BN is in power the likes of Kpg Buah Pala will not not only be buried but vanish in thin air much faster than you think!
DON’t use Buah Pala as a ransom for Penang state.
Penangites know the whole episode better!
They know that Koh is (ultimately responsible) and yet the Hindraf blames LGE solely for the fiasco.
We know that LGE and Ramasamay have done their utmost to get a good deal for the villagers.
We know that some of the villagers are instigated by people from BN.
We know that some of the Villagers are outrageous!
We know that those few are exptremly gredy and therefore loose our support!!!
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K,
Sure KBP will never die but it will only be flattened.
“LGE and his incompetant exco will be buried in the next GE.” Tell me how to bury Lim GE in the next GE? You think HINDRAF can win? Even one seat also cannot win in Malaysia? How to bury LGE? unless you wan to KTK back in power and marginalised you for another 50 years. He He He
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Let’s go back to the “land scam” argument. If we say that it is a “land scam”, I assume that we are in fact saying that the Federal Land Commissioner has unjustly taken possession of the land 50 years ago. Yes they may have LEGALLY taken possession of the land (as per Federal Court decision), however many of us feel that it is UNJUST (not in the “lawful” sense). Now, how do you address something that is UNJUST but not illegal ?
You should not be fighting it out in court any further because it has gone as far as it can already (although I also disagree with the Federal Court decision). In my opinion, you should fight to address the injustice by getting as much compensation for the residents as possible. You could do this by using all “weapons” at your disposal. The state govt of LGE has done this admirably. They have threatened to withdraw the DO, to “investigate” the “land scam”, to use section 119 (or whatever), etc. All this threats are NEGOTIATING tactics to delay the demolition and to get the highest possible compensation for the residents. THIS, I feel, is JUSTICE … delivered.
At the same time, there are reports of thousands of other such “land scams” all over the country as a result of 50 years of BN rule ! We need to address them. We need to find justice .. for each one of them … on a case-by-case basis. There is NO one-size-fits-all solution.
Besides “land scams”, there are numerous other injustices perpetrated by BN over the last 50 years. Lopsided Toll Concessions, unfair Water Agreements, unjust withholding of Petroleum royalties, etc etc … each and everyone of these affect citizens especially the lower-income and the powerless. No doubt most of them are all LEGAL agreements but they are all UNJUST. We need to find solutions for each one of them. And we need to give Pakatan the mandate to do this. It is our duty.
Actually, the argument was, if the Federal Land Commissioner had taken over the land, then how did the Penang State Government alienate the land to the Koperasi? How did the land pass from the Federal Land Commissioner to the Penang State Government? – Anil
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Anil,
The relevant question is, if the Federal Land Commissioner had indeed taken over the land, does it in any way give the right to the villagers to claim ownership of the land?
At the end of the day, if indeed there was fraud, the onus would be on the Federal Land Commissioner to bring an action against the state of Penang as they would have the relevant locus standi as a party with arguable interest over the land.
The villagers on the other hand, are nothing more than squatters. You can argue that they have stayed for a hundred years or so.. you can argue that there was trust or so (without evidence).. but then again, none of those give the villagers any rights over the land. It is just not and never was their land. Simple as that..
You can argue humanitarian.. but humanitarian grounds only demand that the villagers be treated humanly. In this case, the right to acquire land owned by others is not a basic human right.
The law is supposed to be drafted in such ways to protect all citizens, doesnt matter whether you are the developer, land owner or occupiers. We must respect the fact that the developers and land owners are citizens too.
The villagers must know their limits as TOL holders. There are reasons why the law distinguish between TOL holders and legal owners. The villagers are blatantly disrespectful of the law, knowing that they are in fact TOL holders for decades. These villagers need to know that everyone has to comply with the law. They are no exceptions. No one owes them a living.
You potray them as poor fellows about to lose their homes and have no where else to stay. Well, they managed to obtain windfall compassionate aka ex-gratia payment on the basis that they have stayed there for a long period of time. To begin with, that’s more than enough for something you are not entitled to.
However, arguments by them requiring compensation to all 40+ families is simply not acceptable at all. Basically, they argue as if everything is up to them to decide. How long have these families been staying there? Two months, ten years or fifty years? What’s the cut-off point on duration of stay before their entitlement of a windfall?
They might as well invite all their distance relatives / friends into their current house(s)/ bedroom(s) to add in to the number of families. The more the merrier. They may push their luck further asking compensation for 150 families. But, bear in mind that the law requires certainty. In fact, none of them can legitimately expect to be compensated.
Hence, if the developer is willing to negotiate and give something only to the TOL holders, you grab it. If the developer is willing to give more to the rest rest of the families (whether they have stayed in KBP for 6 months, 4 years, 7 years & 3 months, 10 years or 13 years), you grab whatever you can get.
But, like in all negotiations, if you push too hard without any legal basis or if you negotiate poorly, you lose all.
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//No doubt most of them are all LEGAL agreements but they are all UNJUST. We need to find solutions for each one of them. And we need to give Pakatan the mandate to do this. It is our duty.// — ghkok
Well said ghkok but the truth is Pakatan HAS the mandate in Penang. PR has to pursue JUSTICE and the only way to do that is to fully investigate the fraudulent land grab and restore the land to the rightful owner. Until then the state govt should use all its powers to stay the demolition of the village.
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“if they dont do a good job which I doubt since I can see LGE doesn’t plan to be a 1 term CM, we will know who to vote next GE.” — P
And I think that’s part of the problem. If he were to treat every term in office as his last then he would do what is right by his conscient and not what is right for him. If he had made a mistake then admit it but since he want to be the CM again in the next election he would try his best to cover it up.
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“The residents took their case all the way to the Federal Court … and lost. Therefore, it can be considered they never owned the land. Someone else owns the land. The laws must protect property owners. A responsible govt must apply that strictly. At the same time, a responsible govt must help the poor and the unfortunate. It must be a policy. I feel that the LGE govt has been exemplary in their well-balanced response to the Kg Buah Pala issue by applying whatever pressure they can on the developer in order to gain as much concession as possible for the residents. They have met BOTH objectives. They deserve a pat on the back. Great leadership by LGE.”
—ghkok
On the surface it would seemed that they had lost their case. But did they really lost the fact and the legal basis for their case ? If we are truly interested in justice we would want to know what the legal opinions on the matter were and not like some blitting sheep spouting the same refrain time and time again. The high court ruled that they have right to the land. Augustine Paul ruled that they have no legal standing. By so ruling he doesn’t have to write any lengthy judgement. The preview federal court threw the case out on the ground that the legal standing issue should have been argued in the lower courts but that was a strange ruling considering that legal standing issue was never raised in the lower court.
To be fair the residence of kbp never had a chance to present their case in the federal court.
LGE’s government had the power to do what is right and this meant stopping the demolition(which he had all the power to do) before the investigation by the committee (which he set up) had completed its work. He also had the power to ensure that the terms of the land title was adhered to and that was to make sure only members of the coop bought the apartments.
LGe is now arguing that his acceptance of the final payment was just a normal procedural matter and he was compelled to issue the land title. This was a few days after he had agreed to look into the matter. He HAD THE POWER to delay issueing the title to look into the matter more thorougly to ensure that everything is legal and proper. He did not !
Again some said that the title was issued by civil servants under his nose but this was misleading and false. (From what I understand), all land titles with restrictions have to have the CM’s signature and approval: this meant that LGE SIGNED THE TITLE DEED.
So don’t push the blame on to the civil servants to try to make LGE appeared squeaky clean.
And btw. is penang so desperate for developers and development that they had to literally stomp on a small group of disenfrenchised and helpless group of people ?
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