Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email Well, I heard of efficiency, but didn’t expect it in this kind of situation. I think in Kg Buah Pala case there was also some “take or leave it” ultimatum to be done with short period of time. Something seems fishy here, unless its a spinned story by NST. You never know….
The operator of the demolished Waterfall Cafe at the Penang Botanical Gardens here will not get any compensation as the state government’s offer to him has lapsed.
N. Sundras, 54, whose family had been running the cafe for 80 years, since the days of his father, was apparently given less than 24 hours to accept the offer.
Now, Sundras has no home or alternative site to run his business. Neither does he have money to help his family cope with the sudden change in their lives.
The state government had offered him a nearby coffee shop to occupy temporarily. It had promised him a new coffee shop and hawker stall at the Tourism Pavilion that would be completed next year where he would run his business eventually, and RM10,000 in goodwill payment.
However, yesterday morning, he was told that he would not be getting anything as he had not accepted the offer by last Monday.
“This is very upsetting. If you make a promise, you must keep the promise. We never said we did not want to move out. We will go if our problems are solved. Everything can be negotiated,” Sundras said yesterday as he watched the cafe being torn down, along with his adjoining home where he was born in 1955.
Sundras’ cafe and house, which were both on state land, were demolished yesterday afternoon to make way for the Botanical Gardens’ RM7 million expansion project.
State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang told a press conference at his Komtar office yesterday that the offer to Sundras expired on Monday.
Law said if Sundras still wanted the space for his business, he would have to apply through the proper channels.
He also said the state would no longer pay the RM10,000 initially offered to Sundras to cover inconveniences caused to his business and for alternative accommodation.
Sundras’ son, S. Anatharaj, 28, said Law had, on Monday, issued a letter to his father about the temporary coffee shop and Pavilion site offer. But the offer was only valid for one day.
“It was a take-it-or-leave-it. If my father did not take the offer on the spot, it was gone. Is this right?” he asked, adding that the letter was also forwarded to the offices of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy.
He said his family had appealed to the state government over the decision to demolish the cafe and house numerous times since June but had never received any reply.
“We even went to talk to Ramasamy at his office early last month and he said he would help. But with Law changing his mind, what now? Is this how the state government treats people?”
He said his family would put up temporarily with friends and relatives until they sorted things out.
And to further create doubt on the project, someone said the demolition may be illegal! :
The demolition of the Waterfall Cafe at the Penang Botanic Gardens may be illegal, according to a non-governmental organisation, the Cultural Heritage Advisory Team (CHAT), which stated that the demolition of the building was done without the local authorities’ approval.
The group also claimed that its findings revealed that the State Secretariat had violated Section 19 (1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, that prohibits development without planning permission.
CHAT said that planning permission must be submitted to the council’s planning department and legal procedures must be followed for demolitions, as well as for erection of any new structures.
In its statement, the group expressed its disappointment in the state government and demanded a written explanation on why the development project at the Botanic Gardens was not subject to public participation and why no planning permission was submitted on time, which could have allowed an assessment of the ecological heritage site and negotiation with the contractor to review the proposed landscape design to make it more compatible with the Botanical Gardens.
“While we feel that the Botanical Gardens is in need of a landscape review, particularly in relation to parking issues and are grateful to the Federal Government for extending the funds for the RM7 million expansion project, the state must set procedures for sensitive development via local expert consultation.”
So, did the state government commit a crime by not following rules?
Well, Poobalan, the efficiency of MPPP and Pakatan’s govt in Penang when it comes to demolition is “world-class” when it involves Indians.
But on the other hand, illegal structues and illegal hawkers abound all over Penang and it is getting worse by day.
I am sure that had this cafe belonged to a Chinese, this will never happen.