6 theSun | THURSDAY JULY 9 2009

news without borders

The Kampung Buah Pala Issue

Assemblyman’s
Developer cannot demolish Hu skips
G8 to
deal with
Xinjiang
riots
service centre
vandalised
by Opalyn Mok

without approval, says Lim

pg 9 newsdesk@thesundaily.com

GEORGE TOWN: An attempt to scare Sungai

Puyu assemblyman and executive councillor
Phee Boon Poh by splashing red paint on his
service centre yesterday has backfired, spurring
him to be more determined.
by Himanshu Bhatt Phee, who chairs the state environment,
newsdesk@thesundaily.com health, welfare and caring society committee,
said someone splashed red paint at his service
GEORGE TOWN: The Kampung Buah Pala centre in Taman Dedap, Sungai Paya sometime
saga took a twist yesterday when the state in the early pre-dawn hours.
government revealed a trump card in its bid to “About 7am, I got a call that someone had
protect villagers from an impending demolition splashed my service centre with red paint. I
after the Aug 2 eviction deadline. went to check and found paint splashed on the
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng showed outside walls of the upper floor. Some of the
reporters a provision under section 116 of the paint had dripped onto a car parked outside my
National Land Code that stipulates a building on centre,” he told a press conference.
alienated land cannot be demolished, altered or Phee didn’t know who would do such a
extended without prior consent in writing of the thing.
appropriate authority. “This is the first time such a thing has hap-
Lim said although a writ of possession had pened to me in all my years as a politician,” he
been served on the villagers, the developer still said.
needed local government approval to conduct He added police have been informed of the
demolition of the houses. incident and that the act could have been a
“I am directing the Land and Mines office threat from certain parties whom he may have
to refer this matter to the courts,” Lim said at a Seri Delima assemblyman RSN ‘offended’ in the course of his duties as he has
press conference in his office. Rayer (left) with Sugumaran (on been handling several sensitive and high-profile
Also present were lawyer Cecil Rajendra of microphone) who wants Darshan cases recently.
the Bar Council’s Legal Aid Centre on behalf of (with black glasses) present at Amongst the high-profile cases is a tussle for
the residents, Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh, the meeting with Lim in Komtar. a carpark between a company, a joint manage-
and deputy chief ministers Mansor Othman and ment body and the local council.
Prof Dr P. Ramasamy. Phee had chaired a meeting on the case
The developer, Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Khaira along. sisting they approach Lim alone. and decided on Tuesday that
Bhd, has agreed not to bulldoze until Aug 2. The residents, including the village’s com- Cecil later said that the carpark is common
Earlier, there was a commotion in the mittee chairman M. Sugumaran, protested over the Legal Aid Com- property.
lobby of the government office in Komtar when this and many of them left without seeing Lim. mittee had a war- “I’m also on the com-
residents who were scheduled to meet Lim were
told they could not bring lawyer Darshan Singh
When contacted, Darshan said the state had rant to act for the
breached the residents’ right to counsel by in- residents. Two men mittee of hillslope devel-
opment projects and I
Lim also clari- handled negotiations to
fied a resident’s
accusation that the
burnt to death in slash the contract price
by RM30 million for
title for the land
was transferred to
van-lorry crash both councils so any of
these cases could have
the current owner, SITIAWAN: Two men were burnt to death resulted in grudges
the Koperasi Pega- and two others seriously injured when against me,” he said.
wai Kerajaan Neg- the van they were travelling in collided He said it could
eri Pulau Pinang, head-on with a lorry and burst into flames also be due to the
on March 27 last yesterday. recent enforcement
year after Pakatan Van driver Nur Az’alan Embi, 39, of action by the council
Rakyat assumed Hutan Melintang, and Myanmar national against the hawkers
power. Prammud Dhakur Lohar, 24, who were on the mainland.
Lim said the trapped in the vehicle, died on the spot Phee said he
agreement from the in the 7am incident at Km19 of Jalan will investigate the
Land and Mines of- Sitiawan-Teluk Intan. incident while police
fice to issue the title The impact of the crash caused the conduct their inves-
upon full payment other two, Myanmar nationals Lal Ro Muna, tigations.
had been sent to the 26, and Ye Min Aing, 27, to be thrown out “I just want
cooperative on Jan 9, of the vehicle. whoever did this to
2006. They sustained head and body injuries know that I’m not
The giving of the and were warded at the Manjung Hospi- easily frightened.
title was an admin- tal where their condition was said to be In fact, this has
istrative matter that serious. made me want to
was done after the The bodies of the deceased were sent work even harder
final instalment for the to the hospital mortuary. for the sake of
premium was settled Manjung police chief ACP Mohd Jamil my constituents,
on March 14, 2008. Othman said the van was on its way from the state and the
Lim also said the state Taiping to Teluk Intan when the collision country so the
was working on getting occurred. service centre
the developer to pay ex- The lorry driver and the driver of a will continue
gratia of RM200,000 for Perodua MyVi which was trailing the van operations as
interested families. sustained minor injuries. – Bernama usual,” he said.

Devotees lodge report against ‘spies’

by Bernard Cheah
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: Two Catholic devotees lodged
a police report against a magazine writer and
his colleague (both non-Catholics) for taking
part in a Catholic service and to “spy” on the
church.
Devotees Joachim Francis Xavier and
Sudhagaran Stanley, who made the report in
the Northeast District police headquarters yes-
terday afternoon, were upset that the duo had
violated the sanctity of the Holy Communion by
taking part in the Holy Communion.
Xavier said the writer then wrote his experi-
ence in May 2009 edition of the magazine. The
“spying” allegedly occurred in a Catholic church
in Kuala Lumpur in April.
“This is a dangerous precedent in the coun-
try where we aren’t allowed to worship freely
as there are people spying on us during prayers
and partaking in rituals.
“What if others go into Buddhist temples,
Hindu temples and mosques and do something
disrespectful?” asked Xavier.
“We are outraged that these men consumed
the ‘white wafer’ during the Holy Communion,
only to spit it out later for it to be photographed
and have its imaged published in the magazine,”
he said, adding the communion was restricted
to Catholics who understand its significance.
Xavier urged the police to treat the matter
seriously and to act.
George Town OCPD ACP Azam Abd Halim
declined to comment on the matter until he had
viewed the report.
“We will investigate as long a report is
lodged,” he added.