Camerons villagers want ministry to drop charges
S Pathmawathy
12:45PM Nov 24, 2011
12:45PM Nov 24, 2011
Malaysiakini
A group of villagers from Cameron Highlands, who were prosecuted for trying to safeguard their family house from being demolished, have submitted a memorandum appealing to the Home Ministry to drop the charges.
Cameron Highland’s PSM chief B Suresh Kumar (right) represented the seven affected families and the two charged under Section 341 and 506 of the Penal Code with blocking the developer’s machinery and criminal intimidation, respectively.
“The families have been living there for the past 30 to 50 years... they have no land grants but they have been paying assessment tax and Tenaga Nasional Berhad has supplied them with electricity,” said Suresh, who was also charged along with the duo.
According to him, the families from Green Cow, KEA Farm were neither informed of the development nor issued an evacuation order, which was the reason why some 15 activists and villagers protested on Oct 13.
“The developers began work two months ago (in September)... so when we stopped the tractors from moving any further as lives were in danger, three of us were arrested instead,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
Suresh added that a representative of the developer, Ng Yeet Ng, failed to showed them the development order and checks revealed that no permit was issued.
“We had lodged eight police reports, approached the local council and even asked for the environmental impact report, but we have not heard a word from the authorities.
‘Rampant land clearing caused landslides’
“It’s a hillslope and the rampant land clearing in the area has caused landslides in the past,” he said.
“We were trying to stop that from happening... but instead of protecting us, the police are supporting the developers,” exclaimed Suresh.
Suresh and S Thanabalan were released on bail of RM3,000 each, while S Nagarajan was released on bail of RM5,000.
The police had defined blocking the tractor as “wrongful restraint” and insisted that bail should be RM8,000, said Suresh.
Sungai Siput PSM MP Dr D Jeyakumar and Kuantan PKR MP Fuziah Salleh both rebuked the police’s action and urged the Home Ministry to intervene and drop the charges.
Cameron Highland’s PSM chief B Suresh Kumar (right) represented the seven affected families and the two charged under Section 341 and 506 of the Penal Code with blocking the developer’s machinery and criminal intimidation, respectively.“The families have been living there for the past 30 to 50 years... they have no land grants but they have been paying assessment tax and Tenaga Nasional Berhad has supplied them with electricity,” said Suresh, who was also charged along with the duo.
According to him, the families from Green Cow, KEA Farm were neither informed of the development nor issued an evacuation order, which was the reason why some 15 activists and villagers protested on Oct 13.
“The developers began work two months ago (in September)... so when we stopped the tractors from moving any further as lives were in danger, three of us were arrested instead,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
Suresh added that a representative of the developer, Ng Yeet Ng, failed to showed them the development order and checks revealed that no permit was issued.
“We had lodged eight police reports, approached the local council and even asked for the environmental impact report, but we have not heard a word from the authorities.
‘Rampant land clearing caused landslides’
“It’s a hillslope and the rampant land clearing in the area has caused landslides in the past,” he said.
“We were trying to stop that from happening... but instead of protecting us, the police are supporting the developers,” exclaimed Suresh.
Suresh and S Thanabalan were released on bail of RM3,000 each, while S Nagarajan was released on bail of RM5,000.
The police had defined blocking the tractor as “wrongful restraint” and insisted that bail should be RM8,000, said Suresh.
Sungai Siput PSM MP Dr D Jeyakumar and Kuantan PKR MP Fuziah Salleh both rebuked the police’s action and urged the Home Ministry to intervene and drop the charges.
