KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang government has no authority to demolish Malay villages in the state because the land is either owned by individuals or non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state also could not interfere if the private owners of the land wished to develop their properties.
He said, however, if the owners were unhappy they could take the matter to court.
Explaining further, he said the state government had once objected to moves by the Urban Development Authority (Uda) to demolish a Malay village in Tanjung Tokong.
“We objected because Uda wanted to construct a condominium on the lot but the Malays could not afford to buy the units and were forced to leave the village,” he said when met in Parliament today.
Lim explained that “the state objected to Uda because a section of the land belonged to the state government”.
“But I want to ask, who wanted to take away the land -- was it the state government or Uda, which is owned by the federal government?”
He was commenting on allegations that the state government was developing a Malay-owned village site in the state, with the aim of usurping their homes.
Lim said Umno and Gerakan would have to prove their allegations that the state government was purposely destroying the Malay village.
“This is their drama, a political statement for their own politics,” he said.
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