Rama tells Samy to sort out his own mess first

Penang Deputy Chief Minister (2) P Ramasamy today told MIC president S Samy Vellu to keep his nose out of the Kampung Buah Pala issue and to just concentrate in solving the woes besieging Maika Holdings.

Ramasamy also said that Samy Vellu should know the full facts of the situation in Kampung Buah Pala before saying anything negative about the Pakatan state government.

"What does he know about the behind-the-scene work which the chief minister and I are involved in?" asked Ramasamy today.

"We are in the midst of resolving the issue... we are in talks with the villagers and we are also negotiating with the developers," he added.

Ramasamy said that he was hopeful of finding a win-win situation before the Aug 3 deadline issued by the developer for the villagers to move out.

He said that he and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had sent a detailed proposal to the developer so that the villagers can be accommodated in the land which will also be developed as per the developer's plans.

"The most pragmatic option is for the developer to build double-story houses for the villagers in the same place where their village is located now.

"We think the cost of such a house would be about RM400,000 per unit... this should be an adequate compensation for them - they get to stay in the same village and they do get a house," he said.

Ramasamy was hopeful that both the villagers and developer will accept this solution.

In the worst case scenario, if this proposed deal falls through, Ramasamy said that the state government can then stop the development of the village.

"We will not be able to stop the eviction as there is a court order for that but we will surely stop the development in the area," he said.

MIC is at fault too

Ramasamy said that Samy Vellu was not privy to the behind-the-scene manoeuvrings and should not have criticised the state government and its leaders for failing to protect the villagers.

"MIC and Samy Vellu have no right to make any noise now as they were a party in the BN state government which approved the land sale in the first place."

Ramasamy was responding to Samy Vellu's attacks on him yesterday where the latter had stated that the DCM was incapable of settling the plight of the Kampung Buah Pala villagers.

"We are slowly beginning to understand the culture of Ramasamy. Being a deputy chief minister he is unable to open his mouth on the Kampung Buah Pala issue.

"He is not capable enough to convince the (Penang) chief minister to do what is necessary for the villagers. But now he wants to do something big," Samy Vellu had added.

Samy Vellu had also chided Ramasamy for leading a protest - to be held on July 30 - against Maika at the MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

"This is a matter which is very important to the Indian community and I am very happy that Ramasamy and his colleagues are resorting to street demonstration," Samy Vellu had said sarcastically yesterday.

Protest against Maika

Ramasamy however said that the protest by Pakatan's Indian leaders against Maika was over a legitimate issue, especially in light of the MIC's investment arm's failures to repay its shareholders.

"Maika is a long standing issue and I as an elected representative have received many complaints from my constituents who had invested in Maika.

"I am not undertaking this protest as the deputy chief minister but as an elected rep of the people.

"The protest memorandum is to call for the matter to be resolved and we want to do it peacefully," he said.

He said that Samy Vellu should first try to resolve the Maika issue before interfering with the Penang state government affairs.

Samy Vellu had said that his party would pay a premium to buy back the land for the villagers at RM3.2 million and had proposed to meet the CM over this.

The Kampung Buah Pala land controversy came about when the villagers were ordered to vacate the land before Aug 3 following the sale of the 2.6ha land by the previous state government to Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Pulau Pinang Bhd.