Residents willing to renegotiate

(NST) GEORGE TOWN: Kampung Lorong Buah Pala residents are willing to sit down with the state government to fine tune the house-for-a-house offer made by developer Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd.

Residents association assistant secretary C. Tharmaraj yesterday said: "We are not objecting to the proposal, but we need more time to study the offer properly as it is very weak and lopsided. There must be some kind of guarantee that we will get our houses."

Tharmaraj said the residents were "reasonable people and ready to sit down and talk to the state government on good terms "to iron things out".

"There should be no rush to evict us. Also, please do not put pressure on us to accept the offer. We are willing to work out a better plan," he said, adding that the residents hoped to meet Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to sort things out.

It was reported yesterday that the developer had made a house-for-a-house offer to each of 24 house owners in the village.

Meanwhile, the residents association secretary J. Stephens said they had proposed the construction of 24 houses on a 0.89ha land adjacent to the village before the demolition takes place, but this had fallen on deaf ears.

Stephen said the residents would hold a forum on the issue at 6.30pm today.