Go
To Index
Page
Malay-Indian village faces demolition threat
George
Town (Malaysia): Residents of Penang's sole Malay Indian village, Kampung
Lorong Buah Pala, have urged Pakatan Rakyat leaders to save their village which
faces demolition threat due to a development project. The village's residents'
association chairman, M. Sugumaran, said Pakatan Rakyat leaders had promised during
last year's general election that as long as Pakatan Rakyat ruled the state, their
village would be spared. "Such were the promises made to us during the general
election last year. What is the state government's stand on this now?" the New
Strait Times quoted Sugumaran, as saying. There are over 300 residents belonging
to 65 families who have been living in 23 houses in the village for generations.
They will have to vacate their homes in the traditional cattle-raising village
dubbed as Penang's High Chaparral, if their appeal for a stay of execution is
not granted by the Federal Court. "If our appeal is unsuccessful, we will have
to be ready to face the bulldozers. We are very disappointed that the situation
has come to this," Sugumaran said. He also suggested that the state government
should pay off the landowner to save the village. In May, the Malaysian High Court
had ruled in favour of the landowner and developer, leaving the villagers with
only a month to leave the land without compensation. Penang Heritage Trust manager
Magdeline Ng said the village is the sole surviving Indian village on urban land.
"It is still very vibrant with traditional customs and festivals like Ponggal,"
she said, appealing to the state to save the village and zone it as a model Indian
cultural village.
