GEORGE TOWN – The Penang Malay Association (Pemenang) will be sending a memorandum to the prime minister to urge that all land assets owned by Urban Development Authority (Uda) Holdings Bhd in Penang be fully endowed to Malays in the state.
Its president Tan Sri Mohd Yussof Latiff said Uda Holdings did not play its role in helping the development of the Malays in Penang, rather the government-linked company (GLC) was said to be careless in executing its development plans.
An example, he said, was the failure of Uda Holdings not to develop Malay land in Tg Tokong, causing the area to become a poor and unorganised village.
“The Kg Tg Tokong redevelopment project is a 48-acre (19.42ha) resettlement project that was handed over by the state government to Uda Holdings in the early 1960s, with a value of RM1 and a lease period of 99 years.
“Even in 1974, then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak also gave the responsibility to Uda Holdings to develop TaTgnjung Tokong as a Malay settlement in Penang,” he said at a press conference today.
Kg Tg Tokong, a traditional fishing village, is one of the earliest villages in Penang and existed before the presence of Francis Light.
Yussof said the original residents of Tg Tokong were only relocated to low-cost apartments, as the Uda Holdings-owned land had been reclaimed for a luxury condominium project with a private developer.
He said the coastal area developed by Uda Holdings and E&O Holdings Bhd had changed the population structure and now Tg Tokong is no longer an urban Malay area as Tun Razak had endeavoured.
“As an organisation that has existed since 1927, Pemenang is very disappointed with Uda Holdings for betraying the trust of Tun Razak.”
Yussof said the proposal for Uda Holdings to hand over all land for the purpose of wakaf was raised to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad two years ago, but no response was received.
In this regard, he said, a memorandum to Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will be sent this week so this crisis can be immediately resolved.
“We predict that Tg Tokong will become a metropolis in the next 10 to 20 years, even though the land belongs to the Malays.
“Are we going to just be spectators?” he asked.
Launched in 1971, Uda Holdings, which was incorporated under the Finance Ministry in 1996, was established to launch and supervise development projects related to the Bumiputera business, industry and housing sectors.– The Vibes, November 23, 2021
