In their last-ditch bid to save their village, Kg Buah Pala villagers have now turned to Umno.
Gelugor Umno division chairman Omar Faudzar has reportedly agreed to hold talks with the developer (Nusmetro) and the landowner (the Koperasi) on Tuesday.
With this, the Buah Pala villagers have now tried almost every avenue available to them – the Pakatan state government, Hindraf, MIC, PSM, Jerit, the Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party, the Federal Court, the DPM and now Umno – as they struggle against all odds to save their village. The only parties they have not approached – as far as I know – are Gerakan (Koh Tsu Koon) and MCA.
In a way, the Kg Buah Pala saga has now come full circle. It was the BN government in Penang that approved the sale of the land (with the final payment made on 14 March 2008, after the Pakatan took over, while the temporary land title was registered on 27 March 2008).
Can the Buah Pala village be saved from demolition? Will Umno and the BN make a dramatic gesture and intervene in an attempt to recover lost Indian Malaysian support for the BN?
Meanwhile, the Koperasi has ceased updating its blog since 11 August.
The village has nine days to go before it is due for demolition.
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Anil,
In hokkien, it means b…-carriers. sorry, hahahaha!!!
Ooops! – Anil
Ckchew:
“It’s after the lge govt issued the Land Title to the kooperasi on April 2008 that the case went against the villagers.”
The high court ruled in favor of the villagers before April 2008; and the Appeals court is supposed to relook at the High Courts ruling and not make biased decisions. But Chew,[b]why did you conveniently ommited the fact that it was the infamous Augustine Paul that presided in the Appeals court?[/b]
Chew, You’re no doubt a Gerakan man. Go back and hide in Putrajaya like the backdoor ministerm; KSK.
Some people still don’t get it. The court case is over. The Federal Court has decided that the land doesn’t belong to the residents. We don’t like this decision but unfortunately it clears the way for the Koperasi/Developer to move in. There was no way to bring it up in court again and time was running out. The only way to gain some justice is to fight for the best possible deal from the Koperasi/Developer. Which the state govt did. The compensation comes from the Koperasi/Developer so if people are unhappy about it, then they should hammer them. It’s the people+residents+state-govt vs Koperasi+Developer+UMNO. Some of us feel that the deal is ok as it is, some of us feel it is not enough. If you feel it is not enough, then direct your arguments against Koperasi+Developer+UMNO.
This KBP issue has been blown out of proportion. The poor villagers are the losers simply because of their ignorance or they’ve been misled and/or misinformed. They’ve been OCCUPYING land which have been LICENSED to them on a TEMPORARY basis. That’s the definition of TOL land. This land legally belonged to the state. The state has the legal right to take the land back as and when they wish to. A time will come when the state will not renew the TOL license and that’s when you’ll know it’s time to move out. (Have the villagers been renewing their license?) Ignorance is probably the cause of the villagers’ plight. KBP is situated on prime land and by selling or alienating to the cooperative at such a ridiculously low price is probably what LGE meant when he talked about the land scams that occurred during KTK’s time. A scam is not necessarily illegal, just that those who partake in the scams are not very ethical. You can even say that they are cheats. Remember all those deposit-taking scams, those lottery scams, those pyramid scams? Hindraf and some budding politicians are merely using the KBP issue to propel their careers. As I see it the only solution is to stop the development (at whatever cost and borne by whoever), get the cooperative to sell the land back to the state at cost and the state convert the land to freehold and “give” back to the villagers. But can this ever happen? Maybe UMNO have the power and money to do it…who knows? Wishful thinking. Anyway best of luck to the villagers. I hope this issue will alert people who are TOL holders to know what they in for.
much have been written…much been said….the world still go on….whatever may it be greed or just been tuo you..there are better things ahead….closed case.no further action…
please stop comparing between squatters.
to me, squatters is squatters no matter what they say. over the years they have been noticed about their situation and nothing much has taken place. To blame the current government over something that was done by the previous gov is downright stupid.
I think what was offered to them was quite ok already. In selangor and KL, squatters were offered a flat in PPR and as little as 10k compensation, yet most of them had to take it because there were little choice. 1 family.. 2 family.. 3 family in a household doesn’t matter. 1 house for 1 house.
Now they turning to UMNO for help…. if UMNO can pull off a miracle, this means UMNO have more power than CM himself?
think about it.
hi,
people out there, pls justify> a chief minister saying he’ll wash hand over the Kg. Buah Pala(KBP) issue.
so, what kind of leader is he? how can he say, penang has 1.8million people and i can’t concentrate all my time and energy just for 23 families? but… before GE they promise to salvage the land. so, what DAP is trying to do? of course i’m not BN supporters… I support Penang Gomen move if they want to build school or hospital on that land. but they love to see high rise condominium for rich people to stand there by sacrificing villagers land/life. i feel like, DAP are BIG HAND WASHER. by hook or crook, you’re responsible for the people in your constitution. i support the move by villagers in their desperate attempt to seek help from Umno during recent by-election in Permatang Pasir. of, course if my house are involved, i’ll do the same as well due to hopeless Pakatan who keep on telling… story.
Hi Anil, I feel that you may be able to talk some sense into the villagers’ heads (most if not Tharmaraj or Sukurmaran). The Penang state govt and people would never agree to buying back a portion of the land and alloting RM12 million for a “heritage” or traditional village just to appease 24 households. RM12 million could be put to better use to buy 160 units RM75K medium cost flats to house needy old folks or orphans (now that idea I would support wholly).
4 generations of my extended family used to stay in our 80yr old Jelutong house some years back. When it was accquired for delevlopment, my father and his four brothers got only RM35K as compensation (that’s just RM6K+ for each family but we just had to accept it as best as we could. Now we work to pay for our RM75K flat.
Personally I think a free 2storey house offered to each family is very generous compared to our compensation of RM35K. To these villagers I appeal to them to accept the offer and not to prolong the uncertainty and heartache and start afresh for the sake of their families.
What better way for UMNO to win the hearts of Penangnites? with their heavy handed (tarnished) hands, they can force Nusmetro and Koperasi to hand over the land and utusan will make front page the news.
Pakatan Rakyat need to get the experts of PR (Public relations) to counter UMNO’s expensive and explosive PR machinery.
The residents (or rather Sukurmaran) say they would not vacate their home on 1 Sept and they are now looking for a secured compensation from the developer, after a fail meeting between UMNO division chief and the developer.
It seems like UMNO fail to get a better deal from developer than the state government.
http://takemon.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/ketuanan-melayu-a-new-constitution/
This is a good enough reason why all Indians should stop this onslaught against Malays who have hosted us here for generations.
Lee Kuan Yew’s little stooges blog as they please. The opposition use us to get what they want then you get Kampung Buah Pala and all of the other betrayals.
There is a new constitution in the revival and if you are not part of it now you will not evenr be art of this country.
http://takemon.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/ketuanan-melayu-a-new-constitution/
Vadivelu
That is the best the squatters can do when come to desperation. If I were amongst the 23 families, and A PERSON can GIVE ME BACK that land with the LAND TITLE, I will be willing to die for THAT PERSON.
Squatter demolitions are a common things in Malaysia for the past 30 years. We just did not get the news coverage in the newspaper.
BN or PR or whosoever can not help you. Unless divine intervention from God.