GEORGE TOWN, Aug 24 — For the past four days, the 1,000-odd residents of Kampung Mutiara in Batu Ferringhi, Penang have been getting little rest as they mounted a round-the-clock watch over their homes to prevent a new land over from enforcing an eviction order against them.
That came to an end today after the police stepped in following a demonstration against the eviction order this morning that saw the villagers receive the backing of hundreds of state leaders and politicians of all stripes.
"We have advised them to postpone the action due to public safety concerns so they agreed to postpone the eviction action to another yet-to-be-determined date," Penang’s northeast district police chief ACP Mior Farid Alathrash Wahid said in a short media statement.
Instant relief could be seen on the faces of the villagers as word spread.
All the villagers have been taking turns to guard entrances to the village since Thursday last week to prevent any furtive demolition by the landowner.
Housewife Hatijah Hassan, 70, said she has been taking turns sitting on her wheelchair at the entrance of the village for the past four days.
"We hardly had any sleep or rest in these past four days, all we wanted is compensation, they can't just evict us as if we are illegal immigrants," she said.
Another villager, Viji Krishnan, 51, said her family had been living there for several decades and before that, her parents had lived here for several decades too.
"We only want fair compensation, they can't just evict us from our homes, we are all poor people, we have nowhere else to go," she said.
At the news of the postponement in the eviction, the villagers were relieved but they remain wary.
"This is only a temporary respite, now we only hope the negotiations with the landowner went well," K.Govinderajoo said.
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The villagers' lawyer, V. Amareson, had this morning applied to the court again for a stay of the eviction action but the court left it to the police to advice the landowner on whether they should proceed with the eviction action.
After the landowner agreed to adhere to the police advice to postpone the eviction, Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail told the villagers that they can now disperse.
"Your homes are safe for now and the Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon has told me that the landowner is now willing to enter into discussions with him on what to do next," he said.
He said Umno will also push for Khazanah Nasional Berhad or UDA Holdings to purchase the 3.5 acres land from the landowner to preserve the village.
"We hope the landowner will agree on a reasonable price so that the federal government can purchase the land to preserve the village and also turn the rest of the area into a relocation site for other villagers being evicted in Batu Ferringhi," he said.
Earlier today, DAP's Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari said the landowner has finally agreed to discuss with him and Rashid to find ways to resolve the issue.
"He agreed to meet us within these two weeks," he said.
The landowner bought the 3.5 acre land in 2006 and proceeded to evict the residents without offering any compensation or applying for planning permission for any project on the site.
He had applied to the court to evict the residents back in 2012 and on April 20 this year, a court order asking them to vacate the premises was issued followed by a writ of possession on June 25 and finally, a notice to vacate was issued last month on July 9.
Most of the residents in the village, consisting of about 90 households in 66 houses, have been living there for more than three generations.
Kampung Mutiara was awarded the title “Traditional Village” back in 2004 for its authentic Malay traditional village way of living and houses.
