Save Kampung Buah Pala and Stop The Oasis

Kampung Buah Pala, or High Chaparral, is a beautiful traditional Indian village that might be replaced by a disastrous project called The Oasis, a development project by Nusmetro Venture Sdn Bhd and Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Negeri P. Pinang.

The project will drastically affect not only the villagers of Kampung Buah Pala, but also the lives of all residents of Bukit Gelugor.

WIPEOUT OF COMMUNITY AND ALMOST 200-YEAR OLD HERITAGE

A community of more than 300 people from over 5 generations, 65 families and 23 houses live in Kampung Buah Pala, which is also fondly called High Chaparral by Penangites for its hilly location and beautiful surrounding of bushes and trees. It is the last traditional Indian village in Penang. UNESCO officials present at their Ponggal celebrations in 18 January 2009 requested that it be preserved. The Kg Buah Pala Residents Association, led by resident V. Sugumaran, have written to the authorities to prevent the development and preserve the village as a traditional Tamil Hindu village, which local historians state has existed for nearly 200 years.

The original owner of the former coconut plantation, David Brown, had given the land to the villagers forefathers about 150 years ago. Shortly after Merdeka, the State Gov took over the village as a trustee and began collecting annual TOL rents. In 1999, the villagers requested the Federal Government to gazette the area in accordance with its policies to preserve traditional villages as symbols of national pride.

ALLEGED LAND SCAM

It has been alleged that the land was unlawfully transferred to developers. A hearing for this case will be held on 16th June at the Federal High Court.

THE OASIS OFFERS

- Excessive density
- Environmental problems
- Traffic problems
- Alleged land scam
- Rejected by all surrounding neighbours
- Wipeout of an entire community and their near 200-year heritage

EXCESSIVE DENSITY

- Two 12-storey blocks (160 units)
- 1 Block 30 storeys (331 units)
- 1 Podium block - 2 stories with commercial shops
- 1 Block of flats - 21 stories (249 units) with recreation at bottom floor
- Less than 20m from surrounding houses

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

- No environmental impact assessment (EIA)
- No transparency but already being promoted
- Hill slope development. Landslides?

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS

- Serious traffic congestion on all main roads around Bukit Gelugor
- More pollution!

REJECTED BY ALL SURROUNDING NEIGHBOURS

A consultation was held in early 2007 with the surrounding neighbours bordering the Kg Buah Pala area. All of them rejected the development plans but this outcome was disregarded by the developers.

TAKE ACTION

As concerned citizens, we must support only responsible and sustainable development and we should support those whose families contributed to the early development of our state. We must stand up against irresponsible development and learn to say NO when developers try to fool the people.

OUR DEMANDS TO THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS

1. Acquire and gazette this land under the National Land Code (Kanun Tanah Negara) and Land Acquisition Act (Akta Pengambilan Tanah) on the grounds of public interest.
2. Preserve it as part of our national heritage.