GEORGE TOWN: Penang has directed the Federal Land and Mines Department and the state land authority to meet on Monday to discuss an eviction notice served on Kampung Sungai Dua villagers, in Gelugor here, recently.
The 34 families at the village were ordered to vacate their homes by March 14.
According to Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, under current state planning guidelines, any developer of a public or private project must resolve resettlement issues first before works are allowed to commence.
"The Federal Land and Mines Department has to comply with this requirement before an eviction can take place.
"At this juncture, they must prove to the state government that they had resolved the relocation issue," he said today.
The site has been earmarked for the new Penang police headquarters project.
Elaborating, Chow said the state government would not hesitate on Monday to direct the Land and Mines Department to stop any planned eviction pending the resolution of the relocation of existing houses and places of worship belonging to the affected residents.
It was reported that some 34 families living in Kampung Sungai Dua here have been ordered by the Federal Land and Mines Department to vacate their homes by March 14.
The eviction notice was also issued to other premises, including four houses of worship.
Following that, Batu Uban assemblyman A. Kumaresan had raised his concern over the fate of the residents as well as the premises located on the land.
The matter had remained unresolved since 2007 when the residents were told to vacate the land to make way for the project. At that time, some of the residents received an ex-gratia payment of RM27,200 to move out, but others did not receive it as they were hoping for better compensation such as a low-cost house or an ex-gratia equivalent to that.
Then, in 2018, a letter was sent to the Kampung Sungai Dua residents about the eviction.
Recently, the issue was raised again as the residents received the eviction order on Chinese New Year Eve and also yesterday.
In an immediate response to Chow's assurance, Kumaresan thanked the Chief Minister and the state government for addressing his concern on the eviction notice to the affected.