The owners of the 12 houses demolished by developer Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd yesterday lodged separate reports with similar contents in Jelutong police station.
In their reports, the residents alleged that the developer and land owner - Koperasi Pegawai Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang - have violated the court written order issued on June 16 this year.
They claimed the court had only allowed the land owner for vacant possession of their village land, but not demolishing their homes.
They have accused the developer and cooperative society of causing criminal damage on their livelihood and properties.
A similar report was also lodged by the Kampung Buah Pala Residents Association assistant secretary C Tharmaraj on the behalf of villagers at the Brickfields police station, Kuala Lumpur around midnight yesterday.
In his report, Tharmaraj accused the developer of using terror tactics to put fear and intimidate the villagers in order to evict them.
He claimed the rampaging demolition team had caused an estimated RM4 million loss to the residents in damage to their properties.
Social activist and writer A Thiruvenggadam, who accompaned Tharmaraj to the police station, said that a delegation from the association met Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday for some 30 minutes to brief him on the villagers' predicament.
"The Prime Minister expressed his concern and had promised us to take whatever action within his powers to end the crisis in a peaceful manner.
"I think he was sincere in wanting to help the villagers," Thiruvenggadam told Malaysiakini.
He however did not mince his words against the Penang government headed by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
"All this while, Lim has always claimed that he and his state government had nothing to do with the demolition exercises carried out by the developer.
'Demolition during compensation talks' claim
"Yesterday's demolition and the three previous exercises clearly showed the he had been behind them all.
"He incites the developer to resort to aggressive tactics and use violence on the villagers while he lives in his comfort zone," alleged Thiruvenggadam.
He said the developer had also breached a gentleman's agreement with the villagers by tearing down their houses while negotiations were still going on to resolve the compensation issue amicably.
"It clearly showed that the developer wanted to scare the villagers and coerce them into accepting the compensation.
"The villagers are being robbed, intimidated and humiliated by the developer with tacit support from the state government," accused Thiruvenggadam (being restrained in photo).
He alleged that he was manhandled, assaulted and detained by the police during an earlier demolition exercise on Sept 3.
He said Lim's mishandling and mismanagement of the village crisis reflected his immaturity and inexperience in political governance.
'Not being greedy but cautious'
He said Lim had betrayed the people after assuming power despite the help of popular support for Pakatan Rakyat in last year's general election.
"The state government was popularly elected by Penangites. It is now fast losing its credibility," he said.
Based on his comparative study on style of governance, he said Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim was so much better than Lim in tackling controversies.
"Khalid is not arrogant, a good listener and takes extra care in not breaching natural justice and social rights, unlike Lim," said Thiruvenggadam, an ex-PKR municipal councillor in Petaling Jaya.
Although Lim and Nusmetro have claimed that a 'double-storey house' has been offered to the villagers, he said there had not been any concrete compensation offer tabled to the villagers.
"The offer did not reveal specific details of the double storey houses, but rather was tainted with all sorts of conditions.
"It's wrong and slanderous for certain quarters to accuse the villagers of being greedy without knowing the truth," he said, referring to certain online bloggers and commentaries criticising the villagers' refusal to take up the offer.
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