Embattled Kampung Buah Pala villagers in Bukit Gelugor, Penang suffered a setback in their bid to caveat their disupted village land, due to their own undoing.

kampung buah pala penang karpal singh meet 120609 02 The state land office registrar cannot caveat the land as its hands are tied by legal implications.

The land office is the second defendant, in the on-going civil suit filed by the villagers, which is pending in the Federal Court for leave and stay hearing.

"The state government is stuck down by the legal technicalities to caveat the land since the land office is a party in the villagers' suit.

"It's a setback for the state government and the villagers," Bukit Gelugor parliamentarian Karpal Singh told the villagers this morning.

The DAP national chairperson was informed of this when he met the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday, seeking the land office to caveat the land.

Karpal wanted the Pakatan Rakyat Penang government to caveat the 2.6ha Kampung Buah Pala land, to give a crucial breathing space to all parties to explore an amicable solution to end the villagers' predicament, triggered by some dubious land dealings and lucrative township development.

Federal Court the only hope

The land office registrar can caveat the land under its own administrative rule, notwithstanding whether the land dealings were tainted with fraud or malpractice.

The caveat would be an avenue to force the developer to heed the state's call for negotiations in an attempt to end the controversy.

kampung buah pala penang p ramasamy meeting 120609 07 Once the land office has caveat the land, the developer needs to apply to the High Court to nullify it - a process which would allow all parties, especially the villagers, breathing space to work their way out of their predicament, via legal and diplomatic channels.

Karpal hinted the only hope for the villagers now is to obtain a leave and stay of execution from the Federal Court when their appeal comes up for case management hearing next Tuesday June 16.

Case management will be held before the Court Registrar to ascertain whether all related documents pertaining to the case are in order prior to hearing of the leave application.

The villagers have appealed to the highest apex court through their counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar for a stay of execution and leave to overturn the Court of Appeal decision on May 11.

In the decision, the appellate court overturned an earlier High Court decision, which favoured the villagers, and issued an eviction order effective June 11 on the villagers.

Appeal Court: Villagers have no rights on the land

It also ruled that the villagers have no rights on the land that the current residents and their ancestors have occupied for nearly 200 years.

penang kampung buah pala 110609 04 Senior lawyer Karpal, who is optimistic that the case management would sail through without hassle, said he would assist Malik Imtiaz to obtain an immediate hearing for the leave and stay on Tuesday evening.

"Since the Federal Court is sitting on Tuesday, I think we should be able to get an immediate hearing for the leave and obtain a stay," said Karpal.

He has a word of caution for the developer, Umno-linked Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd, not to resort to rough house tactics to remove the villagers.

"It will be wrong and unethical to try to bully and bulldoze out the villagers when there is a Federal Court appeal.

"The developer shall wait for the outcome of the court ruling and listen to the state government initiatives to resolve the controversy," he said.

The villagers have been on a high alert since last Thursday to defend their village from being flattened by the developer.

The state government has assured the villagers that it will explore all ways and means to end the impasse.

Graft report lodged with MACC

Some 65 families and their ancestors have been living in Kampung Buah Pala in Bukit Gelugor, a quiet Tamil Hindu settlement located in heart of the rapidly developing eastern part of George Town.

Last Tuesday, the village residents' association had also lodged a graft report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission alleging fraud in the land alienation and transfer carried out by the north-east district land office two years ago.

The state government has also formed a five-man investigating team to probe the matter as land scam.

penang kampung buah pala condominium project macc report 090609 05 The traditional Tamil Hindu community village originally came under a housing trust gazetted under the Housing Trust Act of 1950.

The original owner of the once coconut plantation area, David Brown, had given the land to the villagers' forefathers.

In 2005, the land office alienated the land to the state government before it was subsequently sold for some RM3.21 million (estimated at RM11.33 per sq ft), to a cooperative society, the Koperasi Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang.

Under a multi-million ringgit project pipeline, a proposal was made to turn the land into a mixed-development township by Nusmetro, a developer engaged to build four blocks of medium and medium to low-cost apartments.

In their graft report, the villagers alleged the land was sold below the market value and that the local council had approved the plans before the title transfer was effected.