Keadilan Youth today criticised the police for detaining social activist Ong Boon Keong and a disgruntled house buyer, Lee Teik Hock, yesterday for wanting to voice the housing woes of Penangites to the state government.

"The detention of Penang SOS (Save Ourselves) secretary Ong Boon Keong and a complaining house purchaser by the police in front of the State Assembly Hall yesterday is inappropriate," said Keadilan Youth national assistant secretary Diong Chi Tzuoh.

He also condemned the presence of police force at the venue which he deemed "unnecessary".

"We cannot understand the police's harsh action. The house buyers gathered there had done nothing wrong," he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Ong and Lim were arrested while they were gathering in front of the state assembly hall to highlight the housing problems faced by Penangites, especially the plight of house buyers who bought units of stalled projects.

However, the pair were released several hours later on police bail

About 30 house buyers of the Pangsapuri Widuri project in Butterworth which was stalled were also present at the gathering to submit a memorandum to Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

'Illegal assembly'

When contacted by malaysiakini today, Ong said there were some 100 policemen stationed at the venue and the road leading to the state assembly hall was closed.

However, three representatives managed to get into the state assembly hall upon the invitation of the sole DAP state assemblyman for Batu Lanchang, Danny Law Heng Kiang and state MCA chief Sak Cheng Lum who is also the state assemblyman for Bagan Jermal.

According to Ong, both Lim and himself were arrested for "illegal assembly" while three representatives of the house buyers were meeting Koh inside the state assembly hall.

"Before we had the chance to disperse, the police arrested us," he said, adding that the police did not give a clear order for the crowd to disperse.

Ong and Lim who then brought to the Patani Road police station in Georgetown but were released at 6pm.

Currently, there are about 40 stalled housing projects in Penang, affecting up to 100,000 people.

The 1,000-unit apartment Pangsapuri Widuri developed by Adorna Gold Sdn Bhd is one such project.

The SOS, actively campaigning for the housing rights of Penangites affected by the repeal of the Rent Control Act last year, wants the government to be more pro-active in tackling the problem by taking actions against errant properties developers.