GEORGE TOWN: While 12 Kampung Buah Pala families are living in anxiety over the impending demolition of their homes, those who signed letters of agreement with the developer have received a reprieve to vacate.
A day after the deadline for demolition, agreed by both developer Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd and the residents after a five-hour standoff on Aug 13, the village was a picture of calm.
Resident M. Santha, 47, said residents who had accepted the double-storey house deal offered by Nusmetro were in the process of vacating their homes.
“We have been given an assurance that our homes will not be demolished so quickly,” she said.
Santha, who said she will be moving out within the next two weeks, said the 12 families who had decided to accept the offer were not “uneducated or stupid”.
“This is the house I was born in. Of course, I want to stay here,” she said.
“But we have lost in the courts and I have accepted that this chapter (of our lives) is coming to a close.”
On Aug 4, an ex-gratia deal of a double-storey house with a built up area of 1,400sq ft was offered to each family through the state government.
When contacted, Nusmetro Ventures director Gary Ho said some of the residents who signed the agreement had asked for additional time to move out.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mansor Othman said “all that (Kampung Buah Pala) is history” when asked if the state would assist the residents.
On Tuesday, Kampung Buah Pala Residents Association chairman M. Sugumaran chided the state for “washing its hands” off the residents’ plight.
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