News: DAPSY Lodge Police Report on Kg Buah Pala Land Sale

Source: Malaysiakini

Penang DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) has lodged a police report against the sale of Kampung Buah Pala village land by the previous state government on a steeply discounted price.

Dapsy state secretary Ng Wei Aik, in his report, alleged that the village land had been sold to a civil servant cooperative society at 50 percent discounted land premium, or about RM10 per square foot.

“Dapsy wants the police to investigate all parties involved in the decision-making process to approve the village land alienation,” said Ng (right), the political secretary to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He lodged the report at Jalan Patani police station in Georgetown at 1.22pm today.

Ng, also the Komtar assemblyperson, argued that the village land - consider a prime land - was sold at a bargain to the Koperasi Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang

He also alleged that the village land in Bukit Gelugor was sold to the cooperative society in exchange for another plot of land next the Dewan Sri Pinang in Lebuh Light.

The Lebuh Light land had since been developed into a new court building.

Ng alleged that the previous state cabinet had approved the Kampung Buah Pala land alienation and sale to the cooperative society without referring to assessment reports on market value of both plots of land.

According to him, the assessment reports were important to ensure that both plots involved in the land-exchange deal must be of the same monetary value.

According to the chronology of events pertaining to the sales of Kampung Buah Pala land, he said the previous state government sold it to the cooperative society after it had rejected two earlier purchase offers from Pembinaan Baufort Sdn Bhd and Edaran Pelita Sdn Bhd.

In his press statement released after lodging the report, Ng raised suspicion on whether former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon and the previous Barisan Nasional state executive councillors had self-interest in alienating the land.

Nearby villagers show support

Meanwhile, some 30 residents from a village in Air Itam held a peaceful protest in support of the embattled Kampung Buah Pala residents.

The residents, predominantly Tamils from the Jalan Empat village, also commonly known as 'Karuppan Toddam', held the protest for about 10 minutes under the watchful eyes of some 20 police officers.

The protest was held along the Jalan Air Itam main road near a roundabout, a few hundred metres from Penang Hill's lower station.

The area comes under Lim's Air Putih state constituency,.

The residents carried banners and placards calling on the state government to preserve the Kampung Buah Pala as an Indian heritage village. They then dispersed peacefully.

The 200-year-old Kampung Buah Pala is also commonly addressed by locals as 'Tamil High Chaparral' because of its cowherds, cattles, goats, other livestocks and Tamil cultural features.