Don't vote for 'liar' Mat Hasan, Rantau voters told

RANTAU POLLS | The Gatco Settlers Action Committee has urged Rantau voters to not cast their votes for BN candidate Mohamad Hasan in this Saturday's by-election.

"Mohamad is a liar. I urge Rantau voters to not choose him," committee secretary John Cantius Francis told a press conference at the Pakatan Harapan operations room in the constituency today.

According to Francis, when Mohamad was the menteri besar of Negeri Sembilan, he failed to give the Gatco settlers – many of whom were ardent BN supporters – the eight acres (3.2ha) of land they were initially promised, not the four acres (1.6ha) they were later told they were going to receive.

"On June 15, 2015, abut 170 Gatco settlers agreed with Mohamad's insistence to receive four acres of land," he said.

"A huge ceremony was organised by the Negeri Sembilan government then. My question is, have the 170 settlers who agreed with Mohamad's idea received the promised land? Not yet.

"These are Mohamad's true colours. He lied not only us, but to his own supporters."

Francis further challenged Mohamad to hold true to the pledge made by his predecessor Mohd Isa Samad to hand over the eight acres promised in the 1990s.

"Do remember that there are at least 130 Malay settlers in the Gatco estate who are also affected by this issue," he said.

The settlers are part of the Great Alonioners Trading Corporation Bhd (Gatco).

The company was incorporated in 1977 by the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) to facilitate a land development scheme in Bahau for its members.

A total of 430 families took part in the scheme, comprising 200 Indians, 120 Malays and 30 Chinese, and formed Kampung Gatco or Kampung Serampang Indah.

The current settlers had paid RM7,600 each as a deposit to settle on allocated plots of the land as part of the development scheme.

However, the scheme failed and Gatco eventually wound up. The company's liquidators sold the land to Thamarai Holdings in 2006, triggering the present tussle.

In Oct 2017, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Thamarai Holdings.

In April last year, the Federal Court upheld the verdict, ruling the settlers had no locus standi to initiate a suit against the developer. 

The April 13 Rantau polls will see Mohamad go up against Harapan's Dr S Streram and two independent candidates, R Malar and Mohd Nor Yassin.

The by-election was called after the BN leader failed to challenge the Election Court declaring his walkover in last year's general election null and void. - Mkini