http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/2/nation/20090702181605
&sec=nation

Tense moment at High Chaparral
Thursday July 2, 2009 MYT 6:44:24 PM

GEORGE TOWN: It was a tense moment at Kampung Buah Pala Thursday when three
court bailiffs came to serve eviction notices, but police managed to control
the highly-flammable situation.

Still, angry residents have threatened to send a letter to the United
Nations for George Town's Unesco World Heritage Site status to be revoked
should the state government fail to help them with their land problems.

Kampung Buah Pala Residents Association chairman M. Sugumaran claimed the
state government was "killing" the living heritage of the village, which is
popularly known as Penang's High Chaparral.

"The war has just begun. Look at what happened when the bailiffs came to
serve the notice and imagine what will happen on Aug 2 when the grace period
given expires," he told a press conference after the bailiffs left the
village about 1pm Thursday.

Claiming there were irregularities in the notice served, Sugumaran said the
notice was directed to 41 temporary occupation of land (TOL) holders when
the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said there were only 23 families.

"We have faxed a letter to Lim asking for a date to meet him.

"Otherwise, we will bring along our cows to see him at his official
residence in Rumah Seri Teratai," he said.

There was a tense moment when three bailiffs arrived at about 11.30am with
two court officials and Thomas Chan, the executive director of the developer
Nusmetro Ventures.

They started shouting and blocking the entrance, claiming that they have
earlier informed the police that no developer would be allowed to enter the
village.

Police personnel then escorted Chan away. Three bailiffs then began putting
up the eviction notices on the gate, trees and posts but some were being
torn away by the residents later.

There was an argument when one of the developer's personnel started taking
photographs of residents who were holding placards in protest but police
personnel managed to control the situation.

A herd of cows belonging to the residents then damaged the cars of three
newsmen.

A cowherd was leading the cows to enter the village while the FRU personnel
were standing in a line across the entrance when the 12.15pm incident took
place.

Lim, in a statement, said the state government would not "take a single
cent" of the goodwill payment proposed by the developer unless the
villagers agree to the compensation.

He also said the developer should continue to seek solutions for a win-win
situation for all parties.

He added it was highly improper for the developer to stoke fear into the
villagers' by threatening to evict them when the one-month grace period
expired on Aug 2.
____

http://anilnetto.com/accountability/thats-more-like-it-guan-eng/

Guan Eng warns developer not to play hard ball
posted on Thursday, 2 July 2009 at 4.14pm

Chief Minister Guan Eng has issued a warning to Nusmetro Ventures after the
Oasis developer's "highly irresponsible and inflammatory" threats yesterday.

Meanwhile, the state investigative committee needs to quickly get to the
bottom of the circumstances surrounding the questionable sale and land
transfers. What has happened to the villagers' report to the MACC?

The State Government will not take a single cent of the so-called "goodwill
payment" from the developer unless the kampung Buah Pala residents agree to
the compensation.

The Penang state government warns Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd, the
developer of the proposed housing project in Kampung Buah Pala, for
threatening to send bulldozers in by August 2 to forcibly evict residents
and demolish their houses as highly irresponsible and inflammatory. It is
highly improper to stoke fear into the villagers' hearts by reminding them
that they will have to move out by Aug 2 when the one-month grace period
given by the developer expires and there will be "no more extensions". The
one-month grace period was negotiated by the state government with the
developer to find a solution to the problem.

Nusmetro claimed to have offered the highest compensation in the state from
RM140,000 to RM260,000 to the temporary occupation of land (TOL) holders as
well as their immediate and extended families. And even offered one of the
two cattle ranchers there RM330,000 including a five-year rent-free deal for
land in Balik Pulau which was rejected.

To say that the developer has the legal right not to pay anything to the
residents just because the developer has a Federal Court order, would not
assist in resolving this problem. Instead of all the cruel talk about
bulldozers, the developer should continue to seek solutions that works
towards a win-win situation for all parties. For this reason, the state
government will not take a single cent of the "goodwill payment" proposed by
the developer to the state government unless the villagers of Kampung Buah
Pala agrees to the compensation.

I wish to reiterate that the state government has nothing to do with the
eviction, or the Federal court order and the bringing in of bulldozers to
demolish the houses. Instead the state government had intervened to prevent
the eviction of the residents since last year. Even though this is a court
order obtained by the developer, the state government would continue to work
aggressively to try to assist the villagers.

LIM GUAN ENG
____

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/31170-hindraf-leader-
defends-guan-eng-asks-who-made-waytha-boss

Hindraf leader defends Guan Eng, asks who made Waytha boss
Ganapathi today came to Lim's defence.

By Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 - Now it is Hindraf's turn to deal with disagreements
from within its ranks. Senior leader V.S. Ganapathi Rao came out
unexpectedly to defend Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng over the Kampung
Buah Pala demolition issue.

One of the symbolic "Hindraf Five" detained under the Internal Security Act
after a mass rally in 2007, he questioned Hindraf's aggressive stance
against the DAP secretary-general over what some claim to be the last Indian
heritage village on the island.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider, he said: "It appears that some people are
using the Hindraf name to manipulate the issue to criticise DAP." He was
referring to calls for Lim to resign as chief minister for his failure to
solve the displacement of over 30 households in the village.

"We had agreed to end public demonstrations and when a Hindu temple was
demolished in Kuala Lumpur, nobody said anything. So why are they doing this
to Lim? To make Barisan Nasional happy?" he added.

Despite other Hindraf leaders such as national co-ordinator S. Jayathas and
chairman P. Waythamoorthy having strongly criticised Lim, to the point of
calling him a "heartless man," Ganapathi called for those involved not to
politicise the issue but to let the chief minister do his best.

He also questioned the authority of Waythamoorthy and Jayathas to represent
Hindraf's stand on the issue.

"Who made Waythamoorthy chairman? There was no election. The few of us just
sat down one day and decided to start Hindraf. There is no one leader in
charge. But if he wants to claim to be chairman, that is his problem," said
Ganapathi.

He also said that Jayathas was appointed co-ordinator by Waythamoorthy but
without the agreement of the rest of the leaders including those in the
Hindraf Five.

Ganapathi said he was saddened that "those who had not contributed" are now
claiming to be leaders and causing cracks in the organisation.

He said Hindraf was "losing its direction" with political parties and
individual agendas coming to the fore.

"I do not see the team working together anymore," he said.

Ganapathi added that since the Kampung Buah Pala issue was caused by the
previous administration under Barisan Nasional, Lim should now try to give
the residents some alternatives and options even if the land cannot be
acquired back from the developers due to the cost involved, a cost Lim
claims would be more than "tens of millions of ringgit".
____

http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com/2009/07/lesson-from-kampung-buah-pala.html

The Lesson from the Kampung Buah Pala Controversy
Posted by Khoo Kay Peng at 12:55 AM Thursday, July 02, 2009

Reported in Malaysiakini.com:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107592

"The villagers' ancestors were brought to this place about 200 years ago as
indentured labourers from South India to work in colonial estates. C
Tharmaraj said the ancestors were given this land on free ownership by the
Brown Estate Housing Trust before the Umno-dominated Malayan government
turned it into a temporary occupation licence (TOL) settlement after
Independence in 1957.

He said senior villagers would recall that their parents, mostly illiterate,
were hoodwinked into signing documents about 50 years ago by government
officers on the pretext of providing water and electricity supply to the
village. He said the villagers only now realised that their forefathers were
duped by their own government to terminate their land ownership and turn the
land into a TOL village.

In 2005, the state land office stopped TOL collections from the villagers,
alienated the land under state ownership and subsequently sold it to the
cooperative."

The land was sold at a huge discount by the Koh Tsu Koon led government to a
cooperative. This fiasco is a strong reason for Penangites to continue to
reject a useless leader such as Koh.

This is a sad story. The villagers were duped and robbed off their land by
the previous government. The new government claims it cannot do anything to
correct the wrong. A spokesman of the new administration said it would cost
the state some RM30 million to buy back the land. Why would the current
state government do anything for the 22 poor families?

If the claim is correct, the panel of investigation set up by the new
government should have taken a legal action against the past government and
those who were involved in the land scam. Similar to the same action
demanded by the PR leaders against those who were found guilty in the PKFZ
fiasco.

The new transport minister, Ong Tee Keat, was asked to be responsible for
the fiasco. Similarly, the new Penang administration should shoulder the
responsibility to correct the injustice done against the villagers.

If nothing is being done, can the poor and powerless people continue to
trust politicians to defend and protect their rights?

Are all politicians the same? The mandate to rule must come with a
responsibility. A leader must have the courage to use his authority and
political power to do the things right for the people.

Sad, this country does not have a place for poor, powerless and helpless
people.
____

Developer: High Chaparral folk must move out by Aug 2
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/2/nation/4236634
&sec=nation

Developer in uncompromising mood
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107644

Hindraf vs Lim: War of words continue
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107645

Uthayakumar wants Unesco to revoke heritage status over Kampung Buah Pala
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/31198-uthayakumar-
wants-unesco-to-revoke-heritage-status-over-kampung-buah-pala-

Hindraf chief calls Guan Eng a 'heartless man'
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/31130-hindraf-chief-
calls-guan-eng-a-heartless-man

Kg Buah Pala: PKR MP raps Lim
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107659

Are pigs more valuable than humans?
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107705

'Talk to Guan Eng for a solution'
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/107721

Kg Buah Pala: Villagers' demands too much
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/107716