NIBONG TEBAL – The Penang government has issued a letter of undertaking to the owner of a plot of land in Ladang Sg Kecil here in a bid to postpone the execution of a court order for the said area to be vacated prior to the demolition of homes and temples there.
“Give us until 4pm. Our lawyers are at the Penang High Court to obtain a stay order. We have indicated our interest to buy the land from the owner,” Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy told reporters today.
“A meeting has been arranged with the state legal officer to discuss the land acquisition plan, and the market value.”
The court order obtained by the landowner, if executed, would see 23 families rendered homeless.
The residents previously obtained a stay against the court order, but it expired today.
People started gathering in the area about 7am to prevent the families’ evictions and demolition of their homes and three temples on the plot, with police setting up several roadblocks.
At 11am, three bailiffs from the Butterworth Sessions Court, and lawyers Y. Yogeswaran and P. Vasudevan, representing the landowner, arrived at the site accompanied by district police chief Supt Lee Chong Chern.
Ramasamy, who was present, told Lee that the landowner must first get the Seberang Prai City Council’s permission to demolish the structures.
Yogeswaran, after discussing the matter with the landowner through the phone, then announced that they will postpone the demolition.
They gave the state seven days to present a solution. – The Vibes, October 19, 2020
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