War of words over Penang land issue

BATU KAWAN: A war of words has broken between Batu Kawan Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentary candidate Datuk Jayanthi Devi Balaguru with caretaker Deputy Chief Minister Dr P. Ramasamy over the alienation of a parcel of land.
The issue at hand are the concerns expressed by the villagers at Kampung Main Road that the state has yet to keep its promise to settle the quit rent arrears and return the land grants to its rightful owners.
The villagers used to marshal the railway lines which streak through the area.
Ramasamy, who is defending his Prai state seat, said in a statement that he was in the process of obtaining land titles for 30 tenants of the land in the village, while the plight of the remaining ones can also be taken into account.
And he believed that some of the residents may be influenced by his political opponents to attack him on this issue.
But Jayanthi did not hold her punches here, issuing a statement that Ramasamy's rhetoric about having to wait out the years and not raise doubts about his intent only fits the narrative of a Tamil movie.
"But does nothing for the families, who have become squatters on their own land."
It is only unfathomable that he would even consider compensating the residents with flats when he clearly promised to give them back their land in 2008, when he first went there to gain votes for the 12th general election, said Jayanthi.
"Many do not have all the documents in their possession, while others have lost the papers in last November's floods."
According to her, such blatant disregard for the welfare of the Kampung Main Road residents was made possible because of the absolute power enjoyed by the DAP-led state government.
She added that BN would certainly be the check and balance element in keeping the state government honest when governing Penang.