Lim said he would try to meet residents of the village despite their refusal to meet him yesterday.
PENANG: The Penang government has declassified files relating to the on-going Kampung Buah Pala land sale, accusing the former Barisan Nasional (BN) administration of robbing “Kampung Buah Pala residents of their land without consulting them”.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state executive council decided to declassify and reveal the decisions by Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon’s government made in 2004 and 2005 to sell the land to Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau Pinang, adding the state legal department has approved the disclosure.
“The chronology of events prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon And His Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan cohorts had robbed Kampung Buah Pala residents of their land without consulting them,” Guan Eng said in a statement issued today.
He disclosed that the state government land of Kampung Buah Pala was approved to Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau Pinang twice by the Penang BN state exco led by Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon on Aug 18, 2004 and June 8, 2005 with a premium of RM6.42 million or RM20 per square feet which was later slashed down to only RM3.21 million or RM10 per square feet.
“So far Koh Tsu Koon has not explained why he approved this project without consulting the residents or selling it to Koperasi at such a low price,” said Guan Eng, who is also DAP secretary-general and Bagan MP.
He also complained that “collaborators of BN” had orchestrated a smear campaign through their control of the mass media against his administration — characterising it as being irresponsible — when full assistance within the confines of the law had been given, and not focussing on “the land robbers of Kampung Buah Pala”.
“If BN was in power now and not Pakatan Rakyat, the residents would have been evicted and Kampung Buah Pala would have been demolished since last year,” Guan Eng claimed.
The chief minister also said he will try to meet residents of Kampung Buah Pala, numbering 23 families who are cowherds, despite their refusal to meet him yesterday.
“Questions are raised why one or two of the so-called leaders of the residents are now so defensive of BN and anti-PR, particularly anti-DAP.
“Why is this aggression targeted against the PR government that is trying to help them? In contrast not a single demonstration or action is taken against the BN land robbers who deprived them of their rights,” he said
“I wish to appeal to the residents not to be manipulated by certain irresponsible parties but to come and meet me for a heart to heart talks. By refusing to meet, the residents are playing into the hands of the land robbers who want to these talks to fail, the residents evicted, their houses demolished and PR blamed.
“Unlike BN, the PR government has not cheated the residents of a single inch of their land and will try out all legal avenues suggested by their legal counsel, Cecil Rajendra.
“Time is running out and the residents should distinguish between those who are sincere in helping them against those who are distracting attention from the real culprits who robbed them of their land,” Guan Eng said.
MI
09/07/09
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