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.
lets face it
d UM(bn)NO/gerakan/mic complex didnt want d problem solved
d msm screamed dat lge shud stop blaming d former UM(bn)NO/gerakan/mic
conveniently forgot dat sukun is d ONE who sold d land 4 a song
d msm didnt scream then
lge managed 2 get decent compensation fr pro-UM(bn)NO/gerakan/mic developer
baffling y d kbp leaders refused n asked 4 d impossible
were they guided by their mic leaders?
u have 2 b careful wen tv3 gives u 10 min of primetime every nite
now its back 2 UM(bn)NO/gerakan/mic 4 d leaders of kbp
as lge said, its like asking d land(grabbers) 2 save yr land
d same UM(bn)NO
who chased (workers) out of estates without home or compensation
built housing estates without temples
who then demolished the temples dat were built without so-called planning
irony indeed !
remember, kbp frnds
if sukun were in power 2day
kbp wud have been demolished by now, no problem
n not a sound in msm
god help us all n kbp !!
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But what if umno can really “helps”?
No, this will not reflects badly on PR Penang. Will be interesting to know what type of umno tactics.
It was under umno/bn back then .lets see how they will reverse it.
Will be interesting to see “how” (they) returns what they (grabbed).
We can learn more as this will be useful to get them return what else they had (grabbed).
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I believe if UMNO can help these KBP villagers, why not?
The basic purpose of any political party is to serve the people.
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Hi Anil,
I found the following article about land compensation from this blog, http://ckcounterpunch.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/kg-buah-pala-penang-cm-urged-not-to-mislead-the-public-on-issue-of-compensation/
The state government has claimed that by offering the villagers a landed property in the shape of 1200 sq feet double storey terrace houses, it has set a dangerous precedence & it has not been done before.
But it must be pointed out that the villagers in 10 kongsi & other places in Sg Ara had been given compensation of 4000 sq feet double storey detach houses for each family way back before 2004 & the developers even rented a row of houses to accommodate the villagers while waiting for the completion of their new houses.
How can the present state government especially the CM claimed that they are setting a dangerous precedence & never before the landed property has been offered to any villager when the truth is as clear as the day light?
The villagers in Sg Ara who are part of the employees of the same Brown estate & stayed on the lands were given a better deal than those in Kg Buah Pala even though the lands in Sg Ara had the similar strait settlement land grant as given to the villagers of Kg Buah Pala. Both villagers from Sg Ara & Kg Buah Pala are no squatters, they are TOL owners of the land & land premium paying law abiding citizen until for the case of Kg Buah Pala the payment were stopped by the bn state government.
Are the CM history blind or are they trying to mislead the people of Penang in order to be seen as the people’s heroes or are they just lying through their teeth? Or are they trying to gain some political mileage & claimimg some credit for being the heroes for the villagers?
As a state government, they should allow the lawyers from the villagers to directly negotiating a deal with the developers as this is a private matter between the two parties. The job of the state is to facilitate the process & to ensure the fairness of the deal, nothing more nothing less. But blunder after blunder have been committed through out the saga & the …. has smacked right on the faces of those who tried to be heroes. Only the (political) eunuch refuse to admit the blunders & resort to blame the villagers with half truth arguments.
Even though we are supporting the Pakatan Rakyat but we cannot go around spreading outright lies or even half truth. If we do not stop it now, it will be a one term wonder for the current state government. Ubah sebelum parah!
At Taman Desa Ara, the villagers were offered wih the same size house for each family, why did the LGE government claimed that the state have set a dangerous precedence?
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It is sad to see the Pakatan Cybertroopers have been unleashed on the KBP folks to demonise them and paint the real villain of the story, LGE, as a sort of Demi-God.
However, these troopers must realise that despite their concentrated attack on KBP folks, there is a huge sympathy among Indians and right-thinking non Indians for the poor and margainalised KBP residents. Irrespective of the Pro- Pakatan media spin and the ferocity of Pakatan Cybertroopers’ attack, this fact can’t be changed.
LGE’s fearless fighter for justice has been completely obliterated and now seen as a shameless capitalist Chief Minsiter who puts Big Business and “Development” ahead of people’s welfare and social justice.
Let me remind you that LGE went to jail not for fighting for an under-aged Malay girl but rather due to making seditious statements calculated to destroy his political opponent. Many people don’t know what happened to that poor girl. LGE did not bother about her welfare but merely used her for political purposes. Ask him what did he do to that girl after the incident ? Did he visit her to console her or help her or her family ?… all he did was to use the incident to build up his own political capital.
Coming back to KBP issue, there is nothing wrong for KBP folks to approach TDM and UMNO as they have been abandoned by their own Chief Minister and (betrayed) by the very people they voted in.
If your house is on the verge of destruction, I am sure that you dont care whom you approach to stop it.
And yes, Fatimah’s right. For LGE and Pakatan, their rule of Penang will be just for one-term. Makkal Sakthi brought them in and mark my word, Makkal Sakthi will removed them in the GE.
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Hi Anil,
With all due respect, the question whether UMNO can “help” or “intervene” is NOT the right question. The word “intervene” or “help”, in this situation, implies that UMNO is an “outsider” that is “stepping into” the issue and using its “authority” or benevolence to somehow bring all parties together to come up with a solution. This is not an accurate picture. In my opinion, UMNO has been in the heart of the issue right from the start. The Koperasi, the developer, and the Federal Land Commissioner are all UMNO-related parties. They sit on one side and the residents sit on the other side of the issue. The state govt steps in to balance up the inbalance by sitting on the side of the residents and negotiating for the best possible deal for the residents. It almost worked, and then possibly the resident’s rep swung to the other side. Now he’s going to UMNO. Mind you, UMNO has been in the thick of things right from the start. Now, if UMNO were to ask the Koperasi/Developer to back down and possibly give the residents an even better deal, then the right word is “concede”. UMNO “concedes”. UMNO “surrenders”. UMNO did not “help”, UMNO did not “intervene”. UMNO “concedes”. If UMNO concedes, then we have all WON. The Rakyat has won.
If …
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TheStart (24 August 2009 page N16) reported that:
the Kg Buah Pala residents’ association chairman M. Sugumaran claims that 8 families who had earlier agreed to the ex-gratia deal had returned the signed documents to Nusmetro is indeed incorrect.
According to Nusmetro executive director Thomas Chan they had not received anything from the eight residents.
Also, Thomas Chan said that the villagers had agreed to move out and demolish their own houses if they lost the court case
My comment: I do not trust M. Sugumaran anymore.
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Thank you JoeJambo. One of the rare occasions I read interesting, informative and enlightening comments, instead of the usual hitting below-the-belt type.
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//Hence, I am not putting much weight on that argument unless we can say for a fact that there is no consent or waiver whatsoever. If that’s the case, LGE would be the first to jump up at that.// –JoeJambo
JoeJambo,
You are assuming that LGE is on the side of the villagers. No sir, he is seemingly on the side of BigBusiness. Even if that was the case I believe LGE would not jump up at that.
//The fact that he did not just tells you that the former EXCO MAY have done something to legalise everything or the developer has some written consent / waiver / approval on that matter.// –JoeJambo
If the former Exco had done it LGE would have gleefully declassified the Exco minutes to tell the whole world.
By washing his hands and (apparently) putting a gag order on the Indian reps in DAP, LGE has shot himself in the foot. This is no longer a local Penang issue. The Indian community throughout the country is wondering why none of the Indian reps in DAP including the national chairman Karpal Singh are speaking on this issue. They see no difference between the Indians in BN and the Indians in DAP.
Maybe Waytha was right in calling Prof Rama a powerless DAP (rep) (ala SamyVellu in BN).
LGE has shown neither leadership nor political savvy in this issue. By washing his hands he has given the initiative to UMNO. A delegation of Wanita UMNO from Perak visited the village and expressed ‘sympathy’. Now the Gelugor UMNO division head has offered to help. BN is slowly succeeding in painting DAP as a chauvinist party.
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Yes, the KBP villagers are just a TOL holders same like those in Sg Ara. But the main question is, why did the lge govt claimed that they are overly generous in given the double storey terrace houses when the Chinese in Sg Ara got a better deal?
BTW, the villagers lost the court case in appeal court because of they have no locus standi. Why? They won their court case in high court but why did the appeal court claimed that they have no locus standi?
The high court case was won because the kooperasi was not the land owner YET. It’s after the lge govt issued the Land Title to the kooperasi on April 2008 that the case went against the villagers. yes, the ktk govt got to be blamed as well but why did lge govt issued the land title knowing that there might be fraud with regard to the transfer of the land title & their promises to the villagers(any difference between ktk & lge govt?)? Anil, the investigation report will surely not see the light of the day due to this blunder committed by the very cm that we all love.
I got to know a fishery dept guy who applied to lease a piece of state land in SPS valued at rm48,000, & guess what, it has to go through our good cm. So, don’t tell me for the land worth rm3.5mil, the exco in charge of the land matter, that’s our very good cm did not know about it?
THE BLUNDER COMMITTED BY OUR VERY BELOVED CM IS AS CLEAR AS THE DAY LIGHT & ONLY HIS APOLOGISTS WOULD REFUSE TO SEE THE TRUTH!!
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I also know a piece of land but was lease at a higher price which is thrice and was at a bad location. Anway it does not matter about the location as it was for another purpose. In this case why the State Government … charges another guy three times for the price????? Tell me Chew? Another blunder by our CM by charging the guy higher price???
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HAHAHAHA!!!…….. understand the issue first.
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Kingkong,
judging from all the comments above & on other sites, there are enough PLP like u around who are willing to pay don’t say three times the price, 10 times also can la for a very bad location like the dumb-site in Sg Burung, so who dare to claim that the most beloved cm make a blunder?
Aiyah, maybe some people just don’t know the meaning of apologist, Anil, but I still prefer the word Eunuch, it’s more apt to describe these people. Eunuch PLP sound better, right?.
))
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Umm, what’s a PLP?
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In Malaysia, it is always a justification that mets our own means besides the truth and reality.
Logic has forsaken us 52 years ago and today in Kg Buah Pala issue it has again proven our mantle in assessing what is the truth and reality for the community that we live in because we are so political ourselves individually.
No wonder we were able to put up with it for 52 years and yet with the hoped change still be as political as ever trying to be rationalize only for our own need.
Only if your intuitive mind can understand the rationality of the residents to approach UMNO when all hope is lost with the State Government as LGE has clearly stated that he has washed his hands because they approached UMNO reps, then you understand how your rationalized mind is so narrow for the truth and reality of the events that only serves you, the all great and mighty person who suddenly found your way for your own need.
So few of us really think, but many rearrange our prejudice and priority against the truth and reality. Kg Buah Pala is the truth and reality today. If we fail to see this for our own personal agenda, gosh, don’t we Malaysians have a long way to go whether it is UMNO or Pakatan or whoever we chose to manage our stately affairs.
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Initially, I was with the KBP people to demand something more for their compensation. However now, I just think that for those who do not accept the 500K compensation and turn to UMNO for more, they are just a whole bunch of greedy people who think they can demand whatever they want just because they voted for opposition party. They think they are the king of the state now. I urge them to think about how many “heritage” housing estates had been demolished by BN govn in Penang or even in Malaysia under theiring ruling, and the people did not even get 20% of what KBP people are offered now….
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Anil,
In hokkien, it means b…-carriers. sorry, hahahaha!!!
Ooops! – Anil
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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