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Moment of truth for Kg Buah Pala (updates)

2000: The Penang Government Officers Cooperative is adamant that it wants to demolish the Kg Buah Pala houses tomorrow, reports the NST/Bernama here. “We are not cruel, but our decision to demolish the village still stands because the court has decided the land is ours,” the cooperative chairman Abdul Razak Mansor is quoted as saying.

This effectively throws a spanner in the ongoing talks between the state government and the developer, Nusmetro, to resolve the crisis, according to a source.

Meanwhile, villagers reportedly have taken a week off from work to protect their homes from demolition. They are also expecting many activists and sympathisers to turn up tomorrow to lend their support, reports theSun.

1500: The developer and state government leaders are believed to be holding round-the-clock talks to resolve this crisis, a source informs me. The talks, which could continue tomorrow, may be extended if they fail to come up with a solution.

Aftermath of the Abolish ISA rally

Photos by Ong and others

Here are a few more pics from the streets of KL as the Abolish ISA rally was drawing to a close.

The last two were taken this morning. Notice the FRU trucks at Bukit Jalil and the two teenagers, 16 and 13, in handcuffs.

Whatever your estimate of the turnout yesterday, this was easily the largest anti-ISA rally in Malaysian history. A couple of eye-witnesses told me it was bigger than the Bersih rally – which drew some 50,000 people – so that would put the turnout for yesterday’s rally at around 50,000 to 60,000 perhaps.

Kg Buah Pala villagers to move to adjacent site?

In a critical meeting today with Lim Guan Eng, Kampung Buah Pala residents were said to have agreed to consider moving their village as an intact heritage community to an adjacent area…

LIVE: 589 arrests at ‘massive’ Abolish ISA rally

Photos courtesy of The Edge via Flickr

For other live coverage in English of the Abolish ISA gathering in KL, click here.

For live coverage in Malay, go here.

For live photo updates, go here.

Full house at ‘Najib’s 100 days’ forum

Full house at ‘Najib’s 100 days, what went wrong?’ forum in PJ’s Civic Hall despite massive jams due to police road-blocks.

Adun passes away; another Penang by-election

The Penang State Assembly member for Permatang Pasir, Hamdan Abdul Rahman from Pas, passed away at dawn, according to a source in Permatang Pauh who was informed by Hamdan’s personal assistant.

Hamdan, who suffered from heart complications, has been described as “a good man”, concerned about the people’s problems, humble and easily approachable.

LIVE: Perak Privileges Committee issues summons

1714: The Perak Rights and Privileges Committee wants Zambry, BN-appointed exco member Hamidah Osman and the state secretary to appear before them over the next few days, according to a source: Zambry and Hamidah for proposing and seconding a motion on 7 May to suspend the Speaker when they themselves had already been suspended from the assembly; the state secretary for blocking elected reps from entering the state government complex today.

Hamidah – and her staff, on her behalf – apparently refused to accept her summons while someone from the state secretary’s office accepted his. Both Hamidah and the state secretary are required to appear before the committee on Tuesday while Zambry is required to appear tomorrow.

Kg Buah Pala land title prohibits development: Lawyer

Bingo! Could this be it?

Lawyer Derek Fernandez has come up with a surprising finding that should strengthen the Penang state government and the residents’ hand in negotiations with the developer.

The temporary title document (Borang 11AK), registered with the registrar of land titles and issued on 27 March 2008, contains a clause “Sekatan-sekatan kepentingan“, which states:

Tanah yang diberi milik tidak boleh dipindah milik, cagar, pajak, pajakan kecil atau sebarang bentuk urusniaga.

Fernandez therefore argues that any form of business transaction is prohibited. So, the state government could just buy back the land by paying the original premium plus interest, he says. It could also issue a notice to the developer to stop any demolition work.

Gerakan Youth lodges police report against Penang govt

The Penang Gerakan Youth has reportedly lodged a report with the MACC over the alienation of the 2.6ha Kampung Buah Pala land.