UDA chairman ignorant, says his Umno boss

Youth chief Norman Zahalan ticks off Nur Jazlan for being insensitive to the plight of Malay villagers.

GEORGE TOWN: In a rare display of candour, Penang Umno Youth has publicly rebuked one of its own for his apparent ignorance of the plight of Malays living in the island’s fast disappearing kampungs.

Youth chief Norman Zahalan is unhappy that Pulai MP Nur Jazlan Mohamed spoke disparagingly of Tanjong Tokong villagers who for decades refused to move out of their attap homes.

Their houses sit on land marked for coastal redevelopment.

The land belongs to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) Holdings Berhad, whose chairman is none other than Nur Jazlan, son of the late Umno veteran Mohamed Rahmat. He became UDA chairman last July.

Last week, several villagers held street demonstrations to condemn Nur Jazlan after news reports quoted him as referring to them as “squatters” and describing them as “stubborn and ungrateful”.

UDA plans to convert the rustic fishing village of Tanjong Tokong into a modern area with commercial buildings and high-end property units.

Some villagers had moved out, but many chose to remain and had voiced out their grievances to both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional politicians.

Properties too expensive

Norman said Umno would not ignore the plight of Malays living on the island.

He claimed that Pakatan had neither the capacity nor the political will to address the issue of squatters effectively.

He said the reports about Nur Jazlan’s remarks, if true, showed that the Pulai MP was ignorant of the “actual position” of the island’s Malays.

“We hope to meet him and explain the situation,” he told FMT.

He said that properties mushrooming on the island were too expensive, not just for the villagers, but for middle-class households as well.

And developers were offering only token compensation for relocation, he added.

Tanjong Tokong is just one of seven traditional villages in Penang where residents are battling eviction notices. Many felt that the state should protect the villages as heritage sites.

“One cannot forcibly relocate the villagers, or Penang island would no longer have a strong Malay presence,” Norman said.

The issue of Malay squatters had cut through the political divide here.

PKR supreme council member and Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff spoke in Parliament about amending the Land Acquisition Act to protect traditional villages, and Penang PAS deputy commissioner Mujahid Yusof Rawa has that Penang would “lose its soul” if the demolition of traditional villages continued. - FMT