The residents are angry that Rayer had failed to keep his electoral pledge to protect their interests and stop a controversial but lucrative condominium project in Kampung Buah Pala.“At last year’s general election campaign, Rayer vowed to save our village. Now he is hiding from us ... scared to face us because he had betrayed us,” said the villagers during a protest in front of Rayer’s home in Island Park, Georgetown, last night.
Some 100 villagers, led by Kampung Buah Pala Residents Association chairperson M Sugumaran, expressed their dissatisfaction over Rayer’s lukewarm attitude in the matter.They also want Rayer to explain on why he failed to inform them about the July 2 writ of possession obtained by the developer.
Indeed, it was Georgetown city OCPD Assistant Commissioner Azam Abdul Hamid who informed the villagers about the writ at a meeting yesterday, which was also attended by the developer’s representatives.
The police chief has warned the villagers not to cause trouble when the developer’s demolition team arrives to flatten the village on Thursday.“The authorities want us to just sit and watch our homes being destroyed,” lamented Sugumaran.
The villagers claim that Rayer was “hiding” inside his house instead of coming out to face them during their protest which kicked off at about 9pm.
“If this is the attitude of our elected representative, then he should resign and pave way for a by-election. We can elect a better leader,” said the association secretary J Steven.
Villagers lost final court battle
Last Thursday, the villagers lost their final appeal at the Federal Court to overturn last month’s Court of Appeal decision favouring the developer Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd and its cooperative landowner, Koperasi Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang.
The villagers and their legal team have argued that the land alienation and the subsequent sale to the cooperative by the previous state administration were tainted by fraud.The three-member Federal Court bench however, dismissed their appeal and ruled that the villagers have no locus standi over the village land - part of a housing trust in which the current residents and their ancestors have occupied for nearly 200 years.
The villagers slammed the judgment as being against natural and social justice.
“If our nation’s judges were to be Brazilian judiciary, the whole Amazon tropical forest would be turned into a concrete jungle within a decade,” said the association assistant secretary C Tharmaraj.
Expect stiff resistance on demolition day
The villagers also criticised the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat government, a self-proclaimed people's government, of betraying them by washing its hand over the controversial issue.
“We voted for a change in the last polls because we wanted to rectify the wrongdoings done by the previous Barisan Nasional government. But the DAP government has not shown any difference,” said Sugumaran.“It seems more interested with dollar and cents than the plight of working class like us.”
The villagers lamented that except for the two deputy chief ministers - Mansor Othman and Dr P Ramasamy - the other state executive councillors in the 11-member state cabinet are not interested in helping them.
The villagers want the state government to preserve their village as a human cultural heritage, echoing a call made by two Unesco officials to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s administration early this year.
In the next four days, the villagers consisting of some 65 families from 24 homes will have to evacuate the village - the last remaining Indian traditional urban village in the state - to pave way for the Oasis development project.Kampung Buah Pala is known among locals as ‘Tamil High Chaparral’ because of its population of cowherds, cattles, goats and Tamil traditional cultural features.
Judging by their mood, it is clear that the villagers would not surrender their homes without a stiff resistance come Thursday.
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