IPOH, Feb 27 — Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) will be holding a People’s Tribunal to evaluate Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir’s performance as the state leader in handling issues of the people.

The Perak People’s Tribunal Committee today handed an invitation to Zambry to attend the People’s Tribunal which will be held at the Dewan Tow Boh Keong, Jalan Kampar here from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturday.

The invitation was submitted by the People’s Tribunal coordinator Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj and was received by the State Secretariat’s Administration Officer Hanita Alang Ismail and Social Development and Complaint Unit Executive Officer Asad Safwan Mazlan on behalf of Zambry.

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Dr Jeyakumar, who is also PSM’s central committee member, said that they decided to hold a tribunal as most of the land issues faced by the B20 category (underprivileged people) in the state have not been solved.

“Mentri besar holds the power in land related issue. However, nothing has been done to solve the problem faced by this people.

“Some of the land issues have been ongoing for about 40 years,” he told reporters in front of the State Secretariat.

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Dr Jeyakumar, who is also the Sungai Siput MP, said that the mentri besar was elected by the people and is obliged to look after everyone’s interest.

“We have raised the issues faced by these people to mentri besar several times and we also held a few demonstrations, but they are not willing to meet us.

“Therefore, we believe having a People’s Tribunal will be a more intellectual approach and the State Government could also be able to gather information from their side and come up with solution on these issues,” he added.

Among the cases which will be highlighted in the tribunal are  the urban settlers issues in Kampung DBI Buntong, Kampung Perak Hydro Sungai Siput and Kampung Bengali Sungai Siput and farm issues in Ladang Strathisla and Ladang Kamiri.

Issues related to farms in Kampung Bali, Tronoh and Padang Tembak Sungai Siput and also the issue of low cost housing applicants in Sungai Siput.

The People’s Tribunal will consist of five panellists — former Human Rights Commission of Malaysia commissioners Datuk Denison Jeyasooria and Muhamad Sha’ani, retired Universiti Sains Malaysia Professor Rohana Ariffin, public interest lawyer for the Consumers Association of Penang Meenachi Raman and Penang Island City Councillor Lim Mah Hui.  

The panel will listen to the presentation on the issues and will give the mentri besar a chance to respond.

The judges will then announce the score based on the response given by the mentri besar.

* A previous version of this report erroneously reported the tribunal will be held on Sunday, instead of Saturday. The report has since been amended to reflect the actual day.