Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari has condemned the eviction notice slapped on Kg Mutiara villagers in Batu Ferringhi, describing the developer as “heartless” as the victims had lived on the land for almost half a century.

In a statement to the press today, Zairil said the developer’s decision not to offer compensation to the villagers goes against humanitarian values.

The statement was also jointly signed by Penang PAS deputy commissioner and Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

The court action by the developer against the 48 families who have lived on the land for 50 years had begun since 2007, Zairil noted.

“Now the court favours the developer and a writ of possession has been issued to the villagers to vacate their houses,” Zairil said, referring to a rally by about 400 in the area on Monday protesting the eviction.

“Several quarters - the village development and security committee (JKKK), local elected reps and the Penang government tried to negotiate with the land owner - an individual from Selangor - but to no avail. He pressed on with the court action without providing any compensation,” Zairil lamented.

“Sadly, squatters have no rights according to the laws of this country even though they have lived for years on the land. Many squatters all over the country become victims through court orders favouring the developers,” he added.

Zairil said questions now arise as to why the state government cannot assist in this case when in the past six years the leadership had successfully obtained adequate compensation in many cases of eviction in Penang.

In the case of Kampung Chetty, a village in Batu Ferringhi, the developer compensated the villagers with a low-medium-cost unit, Zairil pointed out.

“Usually such compensation is obtained after negotiation between the elected representative, state government, villagers and developer,” he explained.

“Unfortunately in the Kg Mutiara case, the state government did not receive any application for planning, and thus does not have any locus standi to intervene as this case is already in court, between the developer and land owner,” Zairil clarified.

He insisted that the Penang government would never approve any project on the land if evicted villagers are not compensated fairly.

He expressed hope that the Court of Appeal will agree to a stay of execution over the writ of possession issued by the developer.

DAP blamed for victims’ plight

However, in a report on Umno Online, Penang Umno secretary Musa Sheikh Fadzir (left) blamed the DAP for the victims’ plight, saying that the state government is not willing to help due to the huge profits from the project.

Musa said the party leaders would wash their hands when the villagers are evicted, adding they cannot “twist and play politics” to say they care for the victims when yet another Malay village is being wiped out.

“As a state government, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should make the villagers and not the developers the priority,” Musa said in the report headlined ‘Satu lagi perkampungan Melayu akan dilenyapkan... inilah wajah sebenar DAP’.


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