Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email After yesterday’s event, I kind of expected this response from the state government. The state government is washing its hands off the problem of Kg Buah Pala since the residents have approached the Federal government.
Now the residents have chosen their path, and can’t turn back. Most likely they will end up with nothing unless federal government waves a magic wand.
I think the state government were looking for an excuse, and the residents provided one just in time. We can only hope that the residents have been given the correct advice by those involved.
The Penang government said its mediator role between Kampung Buah Pala residents and the landowner and developer is “as good as over.”
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said as far as the state government was concerned, the matter ended when some of the villagers sought help from the Barisan Nasional.
“We have done our part and as far as we are concerned, the matter ends there.
“Since they have gone to see the Barisan, the matter ends there,” he told reporters at a Ramadan aid presentation to mosques at Politeknik Seberang Prai here on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Kampung Buah Pala residents association committee chairman M. Sugumaran handed over a 17-page memorandum to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at the Permatang Pauh Barisan Nasional operations centre.
Sugumaran told Muhyiddin that only the Barisan could help resolve the villagers’ problem, claiming that the Penang government had “merely made empty promises.”
Sugumaran said he hoped Muhyiddin would shed some light on the matter since land issues were generally under the Federal Government’s purview.
Lim said the move to meet the Muhyiddin merely validated the state’s concern that the residents could have been used by certain quarters, or that they might have a “political agenda.”
Lim said he did not understand why the Kampung Buah Pala villagers were doing this.
He claimed that the Barisan had not done anything for the residents, while the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government helped them obtain an offer of double-storey terrace houses with a 99-year lease title.
This is a joke and a totally irresponsible action by the Cheap Minister. How can a govt can absolve itself when the complainants approach the Opposition ? If that the case can PR accept if BN also adopts the same policy ? This makes no sense and only goes to show that LGE is a racist.
As someone said, had this been the last Chinese heritage village, Pakatan’s and LGE’s response would have been totally different.