GEORGE TOWN: Penang Pakatan Rakyat government should draft and implement immediately a much-awaited “blueprint” to resolve controversies arising from projects approved by the previous Barisan Nasional state administration.
State PAS deputy commissioner Mujahid Yusuf Rawa said the blueprint would act as a permanent policy formula to resolve various issues arising from development projects.
The formula, he said, should resolve issues pertaining to land acquisition, resettlement, compensation, sustainable development, and cultural and heritage preservation of people affected by the projects.
“The blueprint should offer a fair and just remedy, emphasising the state government’s social responsibilities towards all regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds.
“The blueprint should provide the much-sought consistency in state policies to resolve these issues,” Mujahid told reporters after meeting with Kampung Pokok Asam residents in Jelutong last night.
Kampung Pokok Asam is among several villages in Jalan Tengku, Medan Tengku and Jalan Hajjah Rehmah, all located in the Jelutong vicinity, affected by upcoming mega township projects, which were gazetted during the previous BN state administration.
Last week, some 70 villagers of the affected areas demonstrated against the projects outside Masjid Jamek Jelutong after Friday prayers.
Some 23 households in Kampung Pokok Asam are affected by the mega project, comprising flat units, luxury houses and shophouse lots, to be developed by Nova Mulia Development Sdn Bhd.
Although the developer owns the three-acre earmarked land, the company has nonetheless offered the residents RM75,000 to RM120,000 as compensation.
Political boiling pots
Nine of the affected Kampung Pokok Asam residents will have to move out within the next three months following a court eviction order, while the other 14 have obtained a stay to enable them to negotiate better compensation.
Mujahid said the current DAP-led state government should take serious note that controversies were rapidly surfacing due to several projects initiated by the previous BN government.
He pointed out that since the Kampung Buah Pala fiasco, controversies pertaining to Tanjung Tokong Malay village, tree-top DoReMi stall, Rumah Hijau Mak Mandin and now Jelutong villages have become political boiling pots to the Pakatan administration.
He alleged that lack of a comprehensive blueprint to address and tackle these issues quickly was the main reason for the controversies to explode into political crises.
“The state government, I have to admit, has been slow in drafting the blueprint.
“It should have prepared and implemented it after Kampung Buah Pala.
“I hope it would act on it quickly now,” said Mujahid, the Parit Buntar MP.
On Kampung Pokok Asam, he said the state PAS leadership had proposed to the state government for post-development resettlement of existing residents in the same area to preserve its heritage, cultural value and lifestyle.
He said although legally the residents were powerless, PAS nonetheless was hoping the state government would exercise its social responsibilities to address and resolve the issue amicably.
“We are not against the projects.
“But we don't want to see that there were no Malays in the city,” said Mujahid.
He said he had personally discussed the issue with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi, who is also Lim's chief of staff, adding that the state government has responded positively to the idea.
“But it's really up to the developer to accept and implement the proposal,” he said.
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