GEORGE TOWN – Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto has averted a potential stand-off in Kg Manis, Prai, after persuading the Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) to withdraw an eviction notice that would affect 286 families.
In a Facebook post yesterday, the lawmaker said she met RAC general manager Mohd Ghazali Aman after the Parliament sitting and he agreed to withdraw the eviction notice.
RAC should not have issued the notice as the residents are facing serious financial problems, with many having lost their source of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.
She told the RAC management not to issue similar notices to those occupying railway land in Kelantan, Pahang and Johor.
The squatters in Kg Manis have also asked RAC to coordinate with the Batu Kawan parliamentary office and state government agencies before making any decisions.
Penang Deputy Chief Minister P. Ramasamy yesterday visited the village, and said RAC should provide the residents with housing before their eviction.
The families, who have been occupying the land for more than five decades, were given six months to vacate the area.
Ramasamy said RAC misled the residents during an August 24 site visit on the pretext of upgrading the village’s roads.
During the visit, the families said RAC brought police along and forced the residents to sign documents.
They said RAC threatened them with legal action, which could see them forced to pay a maximum fine of RM500,000, or be jailed not more than five years, or both.
Kg Manis is located in front of the Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Sdn Bhd plant. The village was named after the facility, known as “Manis”, to mark the plant’s establishment. – The Vibes, December 17, 2020
