GEORGE TOWN, Dec 15 — The Railway Asset Corporation (RAC) must provide alternative land or adequate compensation to some 200 families it is evicting from its land in Kampung Manis, Perai, said Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy.
The Perai assemblyman said the RAC issued a six-month notice to the residents today without offering any compensation or reaching a settlement with them.
“I will never consent to RAC to forcibly evict the residents and their families because most of them have been living in Kampung Manis for a long period,” he said.
Ramasamy said he was also not informed by RAC that the 200 families will be evicted from the land that they had lived on for years before RAC bought the land.
He said RAC must offer a settlement to the residents instead of forcibly removing the residents based on the legality of their eviction as the landowner.
“In the notice of vacant possession, RAC’s chairman Mohd Ghazali Aman threatened the residents that failure to vacate would mean paying a hefty penalty of not more than RM500,000 or five years imprisonment or both,” he said.
He added that RAC did not respect him as the elected representative of that area and that they had failed to organise any consultation or dialogue with the affected residents before issuing the eviction notice.
Ramasamy said RAC visited the village on August 24 this year along with representatives from other government agencies and his own representative, Azrul Sani, but they were of the impression that the visit was to examine the living conditions of the residents.
“My representative was not informed of the actual reason behind the visit other than examine the living conditions,” he said.
“If my office was informed about the real nature of the visit that was to prepare notices for the residents to vacate the premises, I would not have allowed the participation of my representative,” he added.
He reminded RAC that as a prominent government body, it should be transparent in asking the residents to deliver vacant possession of the land.
Ramasamy said he had written to RAC a few years ago to propose a joint development project with the Penang state government to resolve housing woes of the poor families on that land but there was no response.
“But RAC seems so arrogant thinking that a harsh letter of notice to the residents would send them fleeing from the land,” he said.
He admitted that the Kampung Manis land may belong to RAC but the legal right does not mean RAC could forcibly evict the residents without providing alternative land or compensation.
“In Penang, we don’t allow this,” he stressed.
“As long as I am the elected representative of Perai, I would not allow RAC to have its own authoritarian way in removing the residents,” he said.
Ramasamy will also be visiting the site tomorrow and hold a press conference on the issue. xs
