A non-governmental organisation is shocked that a developer in Johor, after taking the land of a villager 17 years ago, had allegedly paid compensation of only RM500 in April.

 

Johor Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) said it had received documents from a villager saying that the subsidiary of a high profile company had grossly under-compensated villagers whose land it took for its projects.

 

Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the company pending its response to queries.

“We were made to understand the land in Kampung Bakar Batu was initially taken in 1997 by a developer without providing compensation,” Johor SAMM coordinator Hadzril Rizal said in a statement today.

 

Based on the documents provided, a villager finally received a cheque for RM500 on April 25, and this came after many letters being written to the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB), Tanjung Puteri assemblyperson Ali Muhamed and the Johor Menteri Besar's office.

 

The Johor MB's office had issued a letter asking the Johor Land Administration to look into the matter as the meagre compensation was “senseless”.

 

The Johor SAMM coordinator also condemned the developer for "insulting" the villager's family for compensating them with only RM500 after 17 years.

 

Based on a letter from the PCB, the land was given to the villager's grandfather under a Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL).

 

However when proposals to redevelop the areas around Plentong and Tebrau rivers were made, the state's executive council on Sep 23, 1997 decided to bestow the lands surrounding the rivers to the developers.

 

The proposal was known as the 'Tebrau-Plentong River Basin Integrated Development Proposal'.

 

Based on the same letter, the government decided that the developers would be responsible for dealing with the people living on the land at that time.