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People power defeats developer - Eviction of kampung Buah Pala fails
Malaysian Socialist Party - August 13, 2009
Pulau Pinang – Today was the moment of truth for Kampung Buah Pala villagers. It was the third time that their homes face demolition. But it was the first time that the local villagers outnumbered the outsiders who were the majority during the previous attempt on 4th. August. Today when the police, the developer and the bailiff came, the villagers did not have the luxury of State Assemblymen or MPs, the State Government representative and even lawyers. Only a handful of PSM members and Hindraf supporters were there with the villagers.
It was the moment of truth for the villagers as they had to face the demolition squad by their own. As early as 9am, the Balai Polis berGerak (Mobile Police van) and the Light Strike Force and the General Operation Force (PGA) was ready. The demolition squad made up of Contractors (SRE Ventures) grouped at nearby Shell station around 10am. Then tried to come in from the front along with 2 tractors and 50 workers wearing green t-shirts armed with sledgehammers and hammers. Some of them were identified by the local people as gangsters employed by the developer. This time they had no Bangladeshi workers. The demolition squad was made up of mostly local Malay and Chinese workers and gangsters. The villagers were all Indians. In other eviction areas, similar tactics were used to divide the people by race. Today was no different.
The Villagers did not get side tracked this time. They handled it very well. They formed their own barricade, at the bridge and faced the police. According to Bernama, "mostly women and children, they refused to leave the site although it was raining heavily.They were also reported to have collected cow-dung in preparation to strike back if their homes were demolished."
According to PSM's Central Committee Member, Choo Chon Kai who was there, initially the villagers numbered around 60, mainly women and children but later other villagers came making the number around 150, matching the demolition squad.
At one point the police started pushing to make way for the contractors and the bulldozers but the villagers pushed them back. The men at the front pushed some more and fought very bravely. There were small scuffles and lots of shouting. One women fainted and another injured and this created more anger among the villagers and more confusion among the police. In the end the police gave up and ordered the police and developers to stand down.
At around 11am, the police and contractors tried for the first time to come in from the back of the village but villagers managed to block them. Police and bailiff marked two more houses for demolition. Gary Ho the developer from Nusmetro was with the Bailiff but he was very worried and panicked as he did not expect such a resistance by the villagers. Gary Ho was seen busy trying to find an escape road to leave the village.
At this point, more people from outside came to assist the villagers.
Besides this, there were also other tensions, when the bailiff was already inside the village and started marking houses to be demolished. He also gave between 15 - 30 minutes for them to pack up. According to PSM/JERIT member Kris Kaira, the villagers and himself locked themselves in houses to prevent the forced eviction. Towards the end all the police, bailiff and Gary Ho grouped at Steven's house (one of the local leaders). Around 11 people were in Steven's house including his sick father. They prevented people from entering their houses.
It was yet another standoff outside on the bridge with the police who started pushing the villagers again to make way for the contractors. This time the villagers were angrier and pushed them back 10m all the way to the tractors.
As the hours passed, the developer were not moving forward. The police were also quite restrained. Finally the developer drafted an agreement to postpone eviction to 31st Aug. The agreement said the villagers have to move out on that date, after which the villagers have to face eviction. After some consultation, the villagers voted and agreed to sign the agreement as it will give them more time.
For today the villagers has once again stopped the eviction and saved their village. The battle is not over. Sounding relieved, Kris Kaira was proud of the villagers, " They had the chance to fight by themselves and realise they can do it alone. They were very strong today and there was more teamwork, more consensus decision making and they finally realized who were on their side.
The decision to postpone was reached following meeting between developer Numesto Sdn Bhd Gary Ho, Stephen and George Town police chief Azam Abd Hamid. When Tharmaraj, the Asst. Secretary broke the news to the villagers, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Unless an amicable solution is found, the land dispute and the battle for this small piece of land of Kampung Buah Pala will continue. For today, the power of the people with only cow-dung as weapons have won the day.
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