The Kampung Melayu Tanjung Tokong Village Association wants the Penang government to set up a joint committee to resolve issues related to its development.

Association chairperson Mohd Salleh Yahaya said the committee must have representatives from the state government, developer Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the association.

He said a joint committee was imperative to determine that the development plan UDA had embarked included the preservation of the Malay heritage village. tanjung tokong village 120909 banner

The Malay village is considered among the oldest living indigenous enclaves in the state existing since pre-colonial days.

"Whatever development being planned must include the heritage village agenda. We have been fighting for this since the days of the late second premier Abdul Razak Hussein.

"The current state government has the power and social obligation to redress UDA's imbalanced development plan," said Mohd Salleh.

He lamented that the state government had not set up the committee despite numerous pleas from the association.

He said Pakatan Rakyat must show the people that unlike Barisan Nasional, it actively encourages direct public participation in the decision making process of a project.

Pakatan should get involved

"The people's agenda must be Pakatan's priority. It must not succumb to corporate and capitalist interests. The heritage village must be part of the overall Tanjung Tokong development programme," said Mohd Salleh.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman (left) said recently that the state government would set up a task force to look into the heritage village problem. mansor othman interview 290909

PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim has also called on the state government and UDA to work together with the villagers to resolve outstanding issues.

Anwar said the plans to develop Tanjung Tokong must factor in compensation, resettlement and heritage matters.

The previous BN state government alienated and leased out the village land, encompassing about 26 hectares for 99 years to UDA in 1974, for redevelopment.

The previous state government had also leased out another 54 acres of reclaimed land nearby to UDA for development purposes.

Villagers still waiting

Kampung Melayu Tanjung Tokong now stands on a 24-acre land with 300 houses, including 30 illegal structures without registration numbers and about 6,000 residents.

According to an UDA census carried out in 2003, the village has 1,026 families. But the association claimed the UDA's list was missing at least 500 house owners' names.

Mohd Salleh said he had met state government representatives, including Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, several times to seek help to resolve the issue.

However, he claimed that the state government had not shown much interest in wanting to help the villagers, citing that it was federal agency project.

"The state government claims it was powerless," he said, adding however, that he was not blaming the current DAP-dominated government for the villagers' predicament.

Signature campaign launched

Mansor expressed reservation about the villagers meeting the federal government, claiming it was would sending confusing signal to the state government.

"We don't want to be abandoned and left stranded by the state and federal governments like in Kampung Buah Pala issue," he said.

The 500-strong association launched a signature campaign last month targeting at least 3,000 signatures to back its demand. Thus far, it has collected 500 signatures.

The association aims to handover a memorandum, enclosed with the signatures, to the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

It also plans to have a dialogue session with Najib and the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Rais Yatim.