Raya relief for villagers

By JOSEPHINE JALLEH
josephine@thestar.com.my

THE 22 families staying at the century-old Kampung Batu Uban are relieved to know that they will not be evicted from their homes before the deadline of Aug 31.

Instead, they are given time and peace of mind to celebrate the rest of Hari Raya while waiting to have proper discussions with the deve-loper who issued the eviction notice dated Aug 16.

The festive mood in the village had been dampened when the notice came just a day before Hari Raya.

It was learnt that the land was bought from its original owners in 2008 and the developer plans to undertake a mixed development project, consisting of two 33-storey condominium blocks, flats and commercial units on a 1.85ha plot.

The families' houses are located in Kampung Tengah and Kampung Belacan, which are subsections of Kampung Batu Uban.

During a visit to the village yesterday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state had requested that the developer retract the eviction notice or their company would be blacklisted by the state government.

Let us stay here: Kampung Batu Uban residents Mohd Salleh Wanteh (left) and Mohammad Adi Faizi in front of the transit houses.

"If they don't retract it, they do not need to conduct business in Penang anymore.

"Also, we will be sending officers from the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) and the district office to be on stand-by here on Aug 31 if they refuse to comply with the request," he said.

In a report on Aug 19, MPPP councillor Iszuree Ibrahim said 48 families were affected, but 26 of them had already agreed to the compensation offered earlier.

"The (remaining) 22 families received eviction orders dated Aug 16. They were told to move out within 14 days.

"How can they vacate in 14 days, with the due date being Aug 31? This does not reflect the spirit of Merdeka. Moreover, it is now the festive Aidilfitri period," he said.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman, who was also present during the visit, said the state would try to find a win-win solution with the developer for the villagers' benefit.

"We are not against the private sector but we will call the developer to discuss the matter with them.

"We will not approve any of their plans if they do not meet us," he said, adding that a committee has been set up to look at classifying Kampung Batu Uban as a heritage village.

The village's Second Action Committee chairman Yusoff Salleh, 67, said he and the other villagers were grateful and happy that the chief minister made the decision.

"We hope that the developer can be negotiated with and that they can fulfil our requests."

He added that he has lived at the village since he moved with his parents from Sungai Pinang at the age of 13.

"If the developer's offer is good, we will take it. But it will be better if we can still stay here," he said.

On the notice board of the Batu Uban community hall was a list of the villagers' demands — free new compensation houses at 750sq ft each, transit houses in the village and for extended families to be able to buy homes at RM30,000 or given free homes.

Also present during the visit were Batu Uban PKR assemblyman S. Raveentharan, Pantai Jerejak assemblyman Sim Tze Tzin and Iszuree.