No Deepavali cheer for nine Kg Buah Pala families

The 24 families who were evicted from their homes in 2009 to pave the way for a housing project in Kampung Buah Pala would be delighted to receive an early Deepavali gift this Sunday.

It is learnt that the families, who have been waiting for this moment for months, would finally get the keys to their compensation units, located on a piece of land once known as “the last remaining Indian traditional village”.

An official ceremony for the handing-over of the keys is planned at 10am, and would be attended by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, his deputy P Ramasamy and Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer.

It is learnt that the Penang Municipal Council had been rushed to issue the occupying certificates for the homes recently so that the keys could be handed over to the residents before Deepavali, which falls on Oct 26.

The houses, which have a built up area of 1,400 sq ft and land size of 20ft by 60ft, were supposed to be ready by August, but were delayed due to technical problems during construction.

It is learnt that the residents are expected to pay about RM200 each for the ceremony, and purchase three garlands of flowers each for the trio as a sign of gratitude for the homes.

Ramasamy, who is state executive council member for economic planning, education, human resources, science, technology and innovation, has denied that residents were asked to make the said payment.

Nine families feel sore

However, this happy development would not be shared by the nine ‘activists’ families who have fought long and hard since 2008 for a proper compensation package for the Kampung Buah Pala folk.

Despite feeling sore about not being able to share the cheer, the activists felt thankful that at least their village friends can now own a double-storey terrace house worth RM500,000 on prime land.

When contacted, Kampung Buah Pala residents association chairperson M Sugumaran said the event this weekend has been hastened due to the coming polls, which may be called as early as next month or in the first quarter of next year.

He said although the effort of the nine families have been futile, the activists felt happy that their village friends now have a roof over their heads.

He added that if not for the action of the nine,  no families would have been able to obtain a proper compensation package from the developer, Nusmetro Venture Sdn Bhd.

He noted that since the Buah Pala episode exploded in 2009, the state now deals with eviction cases in a much better manner, citing the latest residents’ protest in Bayan Bay, where Lim held back a potential reclamation exercise.

Sugumaran, who now works in Ipoh, said none of the activist-families would be showing their faces at this Sunday’s event.

“But we are waiting for the election to come. We will expose the truth of what the state government has done to us, the people must know about it,” he told Malaysiakini.

“We are truly disappointed because we thought the Pakatan government would be able to help us, but we are wrong. BN was no better,so we will whack both sides during the polls,” he warned.

Election campaign to expose truth

Sugumaran said he and the other activists would not be campaigning for another political party but will stand as NGOs in their own right to reveal the facts behind the controversial land deal and eviction case.

He also questioned why Bukit Gelugor MP and DAP national chief Karpal Singh has not made any effort to help the embattled families.

“He is our MP but all he does is fight for (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim. He does it all for money,” lamented Sugumaran.

More than 65 families have been living in the village, known as the ‘Tamil High Chapparal’, for five generations since about 200 years ago.

However, the villagers were ordered to depart before Aug 3, 2009, following the sale of the 2.6ha land by the previous BN government to Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau Pinang Bhd, which then appointed Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd to develop the land.

According to records, BN had initiated the sale of the land but the confirmation letter on the land ownership was issued by the present state government led by Lim on March 27, 2008.

Lim has denied ever evicting anyone from Kampung Buah Pala and Kampung Pokok Asam during Pakatan’s leadership in Penang, despite court orders.

In the Kampung Buah Pala case, the residents have all the while been depending on temporary occupation licences and the land was seized by the BN government for private projects, he added.

In May, Ramasamy expressed sympathy for the nine families but said his office had given them four months to come around and accept the deal, the best the developer could offer.

Since they refused, he claimed, the houses were later given to villagers who had agreed to the original compensation package.

‘State government vengeful’

Meanwhile, KBP residents association deputy secretary Thamaraj Chandran said that the state had ignored their pleas and had prevented the families from visiting Lim or Ramasamy at their offices in Komtar.

He said he felt that the state was “vengeful” of their actions and fighting spirit by not providing them the same compensation package as the other families.

He added they had been taught a hard lesson for disobeying state leaders, whom they had once backed strongly, contributing to the former’s victory in Penang in the 2008 election.

“But these leaders have been blaming everyone - the BN and the developer - except themselves for our housing woes,” said Thamaraj.

Thamaraj and his friends, who live scattered across the Island and mainland, will also not show up at the Sunday event, saying “we are not beggars”.

“To be honest, this is how we feel but we also know that someday, everyone would know the true story of how they have manipulated the situation and cheated us,” he added.

“They have stolen everything from us, taken our dignity and pride. We thought the new government (Pakatan) would help us, especially after we saw how they preached with their help the poor and anti-capitalist slogans,” he stressed.

“But in the end, when we fought for the villagers and demanded our rights, we suffered and are now without homes,” he decried.