Kampung Buah Pala residents overwhelmingly decided that their representatives will be accompanied by lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira when they attend Thursday's meeting with the Penang Chief Minister.

In announcing this last night, M Sugumaran ( below ), the Kampung Buah Pala residents association chief, effectively retracted a statement made hours earlier, in which he said Darshan Singh was not the villagers' legal representative.

NONE Sugumaran's about- turn may not go down well with state government legislators. The DAP-dominated government has been against the presence of Darshan ever since the villagers appointed him as their legal representative earlier this month.

Apart from Darshan and Sugumaran, four other committee members - vice-chairperson N Arumugam secretary Stephen J Draviam, assistant secretary C Tharmaraj Sugumaran and assistant treasurer M Pasu - will now represent the villagers at the meeting.

After a fiery one-hour meeting last night, the villagers also chose three non-committee members to attend the meeting as observers. Thursday's meeting will be held at 8pm at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's office at Level 28, Komtar.

Statement 'made under duress'

Sugumaran came under fire from the villagers for meeting Lim yesterday afternoon, with the appointment apparently arranged by Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer.

Sugumaran explained he went to meet Lim at Dewan Sri Pinang at 1.30pm to fix an appointment for the chief minister to have a heart-to-heart talk with villagers to resolve the ‘High Chaparral' crisis.

He told the villagers that he had gone to meet Lim because he wanted to erase the public notion that the villagers have been too arrogant to meet the chief minister.

lim guan eng After the meeting with villagers, Sugumaran made the retraction and claimed that his earlier statement was made under duress. He said he was overwhelmed by the presence of government leaders at the brief meeting with Lim ( right ).

"I have to admit I had made the statement under pressure. I have made a mistake by saying that Darshan Singh was not the villagers' legal counsel. Darshan Singh is the villagers' sole lawyer," he said.

Sugumaran has earlier given his word to Lim that the villagers would not bring along their lawyer, Darshan Singh to the meeting.

Darshan our man at all meetings

He also apparently broke a gag order imposed by the association's committee members on themselves that no villager should meet state government leaders without the committee's prior consent or knowledge.

The committee had also decided that they will always take their legal adviser Darshan Singh to any meeting with the state government officials.

NONE A proposed similar meeting last Wednesday was aborted when the state government refused to allow Darshan ( left ) to accompany the villagers.

Kampung Buah Pala villagers face eviction after Aug 3 to pave the way for a luxury condominium project called Oasis.

The developer Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd issued a notice of eviction on July 2.

Kampung Buah Pala is known to locals as the ‘Tamil High Chaparral' for its populace of cowherds, livestock and lively Tamil cultural features.

It is the last remaining Indian traditional village in the state, which many civil societies and even politicians want to see preserved as a state heritage.