This is the scene at Savoy Garden, about a kilometre from the Ayer Itam Dam, after houses on private land were demolished.
Aug 052009
More details of the compensation package have emerged, which supersedes my earlier post on the subject.
Here is the summary of the package gleaned from a copy of a letter obtained from one of the villagers. The two-page letter dated 4 August bears the signature of a director of Nusmetro (name not given):
- Two-storey terrace houses to be erected on plots measuring 20 feet by 60 feet each. The built-up area of each will be roughly 1,400 square feet.
- The villagers have to withdraw all legal action.
When most outsiders hear of Kampung Buah Pala, they tend to think of it as just another crammed “squatter” settlement, with ramshackle houses, surrounded by rubbish and stray animals.
Let me show you the other side of Kg Buah Pala – a side not often seen by outsiders. The village is actually quite scenic, the houses nestled amidst natural greenery. The wooden houses blend in with nature, standing next to rambutan, neem and coconut trees. It is easy to see why the Koperasi and Nusmetro covet this land. But they will only flatten it with orange soil for their construction work.
“People tend to look down on wooden houses,” said one of the villagers, showing me around. “They think that brick and concrete houses are superior, but then they find it so hot inside such houses and apartments even with fans and air-cons. Do you know, when I was growing up here in the village, we had to sleep under double blankets. It was that cool.”
