The Pakatan Rakyat Penang government will take stern action against any civil servants found to have committed wrongdoings in the land transaction of Kampung Buah Pala in Bukit Gelugor, Penang.

In saying this, Deputy Chief Minister 2 P Ramasamy assured that the state government would not leave any stone unturned in its probe into the village land dealings carried out during the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

kampung buah pala penang p ramasamy meeting 120609 07 "There is a suspicion of malpractices in the land alienation and transfer dealings done by the previous government.

"Our probe will get into the bottom of the deals to unearth the truth.

"We will not compromise with any civil servants found guilty of committing malpractices in the process," he said during a 90-minute dialogue session with the Kampung Buah Pala villagers on Thursday.

Some 100 villagers, including senior residents, women and children, have stood guard all day long on Thursday to prevent any attempt by the developer, Umno-linked Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd, to demolish their homes.

However, nothing untoward happened to their relief.

On May 11, the Court of Appeal has issued an eviction order effective June 11 for the villagers to leave the Indian community traditional village, in which current residents and their ancestors have lived for nearly 200 years.

The villagers' residents' association has since appealed to the Federal Court to overturn the Court of Appeal decision and have filed for a stay of execution

Pressured by the villagers, Pakatan state government has finally decided to play the tough cop role to stop the developer from ‘bulldozing and bullying out' the residents, numbering about 300.

‘Something was fishy'

DCM 1 Mansor Othman will head a five-man team, including Ramasamy, to probe into the land deals that took place from 2005 until March last year.

kampung buah pala penang p ramasamy meeting 120609 04 The villagers have long complained that ‘something was fishy' about firstly, in the alienation of the land from originally under the Brown housing trust to the state ownership.

Secondly, the villagers have raised suspicion over the sale of the land to a civil servant cooperative - Koperasi Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang at far below market value.

They have also claimed that the local authority has given the planning approval to the project months before the land title was transferred from the state to cooperative.

This, they alleged breached the council building by-laws.

Early this week, the villagers lodged a graft report at the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission against the district land office for an alleged fraud in the land transaction.

During the dialogue, Ramasamy assured the villagers that the state government would exhaust all means to assist them to come out of their predicament.

He said the state government was prepared to explore the possibility of preserving the village as the state's human cultural heritage and compensate a state land for the developer.

The state government will also explore its legal means to caveat the land to facilitate its land scam probe.

If all these failed, the state government will then negotiate a hefty monetary package to compensate the villagers, added Ramasamy.

Be open for negotiations

However, the villagers have rejected any compensation plan and firmly told the Ramasamy that they want their village alive.

"We are behind the villagers and fully back them to find an amicable solution.

"But one must be open for negotiations. Otherwise it will be a dead end," he told Malaysiakini later.

kampung buah pala penang p ramasamy meeting 120609 05 He assured that the state government would compel the developer to the negotiation table to explore all solutions to end the controversy.

Sitting on a 2.6 ha prime land, Kampung Buah Pala is popularly known as `Tamil High Chaparral' to Penangites due to its traditional background of cowherds.

The festive mood and colourful atmosphere during Tamil Hindu festival celebrations in this area is hardly visible in other areas of the island.

Many civil society groups have urged the state government to preserve it as traditional natural heritage in Georgetown and stop the lucrative township project.