I refer to the Malaysiakini report Compensation: 9 Buah Pala residents issue legal notice .

According to the report, former Kampong Buah Pala villager M Sugumaran claimed that ‘the residents were holders of legitimate temporary occupier licences (TOL) when their houses were demolished’. He must have been misled by his lawyer. Let me explain why.

According to Section 65 of the National Land Code (NLC) the state authority may issue TOLs for:

a. State land

b. Mining land not for the time being used for the purpose of mining; and

c. Reserved land not for the time being used for the purpose for which it was reserved

Since sometime in 2008, the land on which Kg Buah Pala was situated was issued with a land title to Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang Bhd (KPKNPPB). This means that since the issuance of such a land title, the land on which the village was situated was no longer land that fell under any of the three categories listed above and therefore no new TOL could have been issued.

In earlier reports, the villagers themselves had acknowledged that since some time back, the previous BN state government had refused to accept payment for renewal of the earlier TOLs. This means that all the previous TOLs had expired in accordance with Section 67 of the NLC, which states that every TOL:

- ‘shall be issued for a term expiring not later than the end of the calendar year in which it commences’.

Therefore, how could the villagers be ‘holders of legitimate temporary occupier licences’ at the material time when their homes were demolished?

Another part of the NLC, Section 341 is also relevant to this particular case. This section states:

‘Adverse possession of land for any length of time whatsoever shall not constitute a bar to the bringing of any action for the recovery thereof by the proprietor or any person or body entitled to an interest therein and accordingly, the Limitation Act 1953, shall in no circumstances operate to extinguish any title to, or interest in, land.’

This means simply that KPKNPPB, the registered land owner and/or Nusmetro Ventures Sdn Bhd are entitled to recover possession of the land on which Kg Buah Pala was situated. I am not aware of any provision in the NLC or other legislation which entitles illegal squatters to compensation when legally evicted.

So far, neither the villagers or their lawyers have quoted any law that says illegal squatters are entitled to compensation when legally evicted. If there are such laws, then God help all legitimate home and property owners.

Because then, we will never dare leave our homes and properties and go for long holidays for fear that when we return, we may find our homes and properties occupied by illegal squatters. And to get rid of the squatters we will be compelled to pay them compensation.

Therefore, when compensation was earlier offered to the Kg Buah Pala villagers, it was not because of a legal requirement, but due to perhaps arm-twisting (maybe even illegal) by the current Penang state government.

The Kg Buah Pala villagers should have accepted the compensation offered, especially after a deadline was set.