More Malay villages in Penang set to disappear

(The Star) – Another Malay village in Penang, namely, Kampung Selut, Sungai Pinang here, will soon disappear after residents were told by developers the area is set for redevelopment.

The village, which is located near here, existed since the 1960s, and had 5,000 residents.

Sungai Pinang Village Mosque chairman Ibrahim Din said there were 102 terraced houses and 102 single units in the area on land, which is held by the Penang City Council (MBPP), and believed to be involved in the redevelopment project.

“The land belonged to an individual and the federal government headed by the then second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein at that time gave a sum of money to build houses in the area to help Malays who did not own homes.

“The land owner agreed to turn the land into a Malay reserve and the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) at that time was appointed as the trustee of the land,” he said here Wednesday.

Ibrahim, who stayed in Kampung Selut, said the residents had contacted MBPP several times to buy the houses from the local authorities but failed because they refused to sell them.

“Only the occupants of the single units succeeded in buying their homes after several discussions but those staying in terraced houses are still renting at RM70 a month each,” he said.

Since early this year, he said the residents became anxious because they were told MBPP via a developer would redevelop the area with the construction of multi-types housings, including on the land siting the single unit homes.

“In June, MBPP had sent a letter of survey to the residents on a proposal to redevelop the area and all residents had sent letters of protest via the Sungai Pinang Village Jamek Mosque on it.

Ibrahim said the residents had also sent letters to meet a representative of the Penang state government to discuss the problem but up to date there had been no response.