Villager held over row in Pengerang graveyard

He was weeping over the relocation of his grandmother’s grave when an unknown person confronted him.

PETALING JAYA: Police are investigating a scuffle that broke up in Pengerang, Johor, on Tuesday as authorities began relocating 11 Muslim graves to make way for the RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project.

A 60-year-old villager who was seen among anti-Rapid activists was hauled up yesterday for questioning. Police suspect he committed criminal intimidation against a person yet to be identified.

The activists, belonging to Gabungan NGO Pengerang, were monitoring the transfer of corpses to a new site near Kampung Punggai.

The villager, Abdul Yahya Hamid, told FMT today that he was overcome by emotion when he found out to his surprise that his grandmother’s grave was being moved to the new site.

He said he was weeping at the grave when a man, believed to be a Rapid employee, approached him in a rude manner and asked what he was doing.

They got into a heated argument after he told the man not to disturb him.

“There was no physical contact between us,” Yahya said. “But he lodged a report against me claiming that he was intimidated, whereas he was the one who turned the matter into an issue.”

Yahya was released at 11am today on police bail after being remanded for 24 hours. He has since lodged his own police report against his adversary.

Meanwhile, Gabungan NGO Pengerang has cried foul over the authorities’ failure to adhere to stipulated rules when conducting the relocation, including digging out graves of people with heirs.

“The license issued by the Johor Secretariat Office states that the contractors were allowed only to relocate 198 Muslim graves without heirs—at Lot 5156 of Kampung Telok Empang.,” Gabungan spokesman Hasnul Ahmad said.

“But they have dug up graves in Kampung Jawa Laut, Kampung Jawa Barat and Kampung Sebong in the past few days.”

No notice

Hasnul also claimed that Johor state government appointees Icedecor Bina Sdn Bhd and PIJ Holding Sdn Bhd had failed to issue any notice for land acquisition before they started digging up graves at Kampung Sebong on Dec 22.

He said that after a police report was made against the contractors, their workers left in a hurry, leaving tombstones strewn all over the site.

“We want the State Secretariat to say whether or not the contractors have abused their licences in digging out graves without consent,” he added.

“If there is no response, we will help villagers to file a law suit against the State Secretariat and contractors involved.”

The group has been pressing for the government to preserve the seven Chinese cemeteries and 11 Malay cemeteries within Pengerang as green areas.

The new Muslim cemetery occupies about 80 acres and was commissioned at a cost of RM31 million.

A group representing the Chinese cemeteries has failed in their attempt to get a court order against the relocation, but they will appeal against the verdict next week.