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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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.
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
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.
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.
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.… Read more »
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…
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?)… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.
Anil,
In hokkien, it means b…-carriers. sorry, hahahaha!!!
Ooops! – Anil
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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?. :)))
Umm, what’s a PLP?
HAHAHAHA!!!…….. understand the issue first.
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???
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… Read more »
//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… Read more »
Thank you JoeJambo. One of the rare occasions I read interesting, informative and enlightening comments, instead of the usual hitting below-the-belt type.
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.
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
I believe if UMNO can help these KBP villagers, why not?
The basic purpose of any political party is to serve the people.