Police stand guard as Kampung Buah Pala residents try to present workers of the developer from demolishing their homes earlier this month
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has gone on a fresh offensive in a bid to clear the name of the present administration over the contentious sale of land in Kampung Buah Pala on the island.
Lim today challenged former Barisan Nasional (BN) state executive councillor Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan to show proof of his claim that the Pakatan Rakyat state administration had finalised the deal and accused the previous BN state government of selling the Kampung Buah Pala land at cheap rates and without consulting the residents.
The DAP secretary-general also questioned former Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon for not daring to appear on a televised debate on national television.
Lim and Teng have been trading barbs over which party is responsible for the land transaction which resulted in a standoff between residents and the state over the issue of compensation.
"BN and Gerakan, especially Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan, must show proof or stop their shocking lies that the Penang Pakatan Rakyat government finalised the village land deal and sold Kampung Buah Pala to Koperasi Pegawai Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang," Lim said in a statement.
"No amount of false reports by their ‘character assassins’ will convince Penangites that BN and Gerakan government had not robbed the Kampung Buah Pala residents of their land."
Lim also referred to declassified minutes of state executive council meetings in 2004 and 2005 and said it showed that the previous BN state administration were the ones who were responsible for alienating Kampung Buah Pala land to the cooperative twice in the state executive council meetings on Aug 18, 2004 and June 8, 2005, without consulting the residents.
Teng had in July said that the Penang government had concluded the land title to the cooperative 19 days after winning in the March 2008 general election by signing a transfer letter to the cooperative on March 27, 2008, instead of making a decision to abort the deal.
Lim says the PR government has got better compensation for the villagers.
Lim says the PR government has got better compensation for the villagers.
The chief minister said however that the state was legally bound once the decision of the BN state executive council had been conveyed via approval letters for land alienation and development orders sent out to the cooperative and the developer.
"There is nothing the new PR government can do as it is bound by the decisions approved by BN. This was also affirmed by the Federal Court decision. The order for eviction and demolition was issued to the developer and not initiated by the state government," said Lim.
He noted that the meeting minutes, a video clip of then Penang Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Abdul Rashid Abdullah witnessing the signing ceremony with the developer, and letters by the Land Office to the developer in 2007 were proof that Teng was wrong in his assertions.
Lim also said that by blaming the PR state government of "robbing" the Kampung Buah Pala residents of their land, Teng was committing a case of “the thief shouting thief”.
The issue was finally settled on June 24 when the court ordered Kampung Buah Pala residents to evacuate the village to allow the landowner and the developer, Nusmetro Ventures Sdn Bhd, to start work on the site.
Twenty-two residents agreed to accept an offer of compensation from the developer of a double-storey house and RM8,000 in moving expenses.
Lim noted that the present state government had managed to improve the compensation secured by the previous administration of a RM75,000 flat to a RM600,000 double-storey landed property.
comments
The Gerakan a part of the umno liars have been telling lies after lies ever since they were born. Very obviously the BN liars started the transaction during their rule in Penang and they are the ones who sold Kg Pala at a loss to an umno crook. The transaction of Kg Pala took some time to complete and unfortunately the final stage fell on the Pakatan government led DAP Lim Guan Eng. The final stage of the land transaction forms the larger part of the entire transaction made by the BN crooks and not by the Pakatan State government and thus it is right that the transaction must go through under whichever government of the day........Pakatan is still the innocent one and BN which started the ball rolling should bear the full responsibility of this nonsense
BN is up to its old trick. The people won't buy this. Sorry. They dug the hole and now they want LGE to bury the hole. The Kg Buah Pala issue is settled and the residents are compensated. Enough for being very foolish and depending on MIC and BN to give them ownership of the land. For the foolishness of MIC the residents or the Indian community lost a prime land. Gerakan was of no use either. It sees which side of the bread is buttered. Gerakan would get nothing by helping the Indians. So, Gerakan did the "right" job to please the master. The MIC exco was sleeping in the previous state government. 98 percent of Penangites do not blame LGE for the fiasco. The BN is spining the issue, as if the lost of Kg Buah Pala is because of LGE and the present state government. This is politics. In Selangor the unpopular Khir Toyo is playing the same game to split Pakatan. Dear Khir Toyo, you are wasting your time. We suggest you go back to dentistry and do some charity work. The people of Selangor has rejected you. Sorry. Hindraf does not stop talking. To walk the talk is not easy especially when you are in the "opposition". Please join hand with Pakatan and oust the BN comes the next GE. HIDUP LGE. HIDUP PAKATAN. We all want a change throughout the country. PR has to be the next government.
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