pywong
29th June 2009, 11:04 AM
Land: What's legal not always just
Terence Netto | Jun 29, 09 8:06am
What is sometimes apparently legal may not be necessarily just. This was particularly true on issues involving land, and the many recent disputes over who had the right of ownership and residence, said PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim.
Commenting to Malaysiakini on a raft of land issues ranging from Kampong Buah Pala in Penang, Pandamaran in Selangor to Layang Layang in Johor, he said the law may be on the side of the government or private sector in instances of disputed ownership between occupiers and developers, but that there was a question of justice which cannot be ignored.
“The question of justice is inevitably bound up with the question of ownership,” he said. “To pretend otherwise is to bury your head in the sand,” he remarked.
“The legal aspects of these cases may favour the developers but questions of justice and equity may be on the side of the long-standing occupants,” he observed.
He said the tug of conflicting imperatives of legality and of justice thrown up by some of these disputes was hard to resolve.
“Frank admission of this difficulty is not a counsel of despair; it is a confession that on certain issues, the law and the imperatives of justice are in conflict,” opined Anwar.
He said the role of government in such cases ought to tilt in favour of the people in distress who could not help themselves.
“For that reason, PKR has formed a special task force with deputy president Syed Husin Ali in charge to study these issues so that their resolution does not adversely affect the people involved,” said Anwar.
Legacy issues involving land
PKR is a member of the ruling Pakatan Rakyat coalition in both Penang and Selangor where the state governments are grabbling with legacy land issues from previous BN administrations.
On Thursday, some 65 families from 24 homes are to be evicted from Kampung Buah Pala - the last remaining Indian traditional urban village in Penang - to pave way for a condominium project.
The 100-year-old village is known among locals as ‘Tamil High Chaparral’ because of its population of cowherds, cattles, goats and Tamil traditional cultural features.
The embattled residents lost their final court battle last week when the Federal Court ruled in favour of the developer.
The DAP-led Penang government has been slammed for failing to do more to stop the eviction.
http://malaysiakini.com/news/107410
Terence Netto | Jun 29, 09 8:06am
What is sometimes apparently legal may not be necessarily just. This was particularly true on issues involving land, and the many recent disputes over who had the right of ownership and residence, said PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim.
Commenting to Malaysiakini on a raft of land issues ranging from Kampong Buah Pala in Penang, Pandamaran in Selangor to Layang Layang in Johor, he said the law may be on the side of the government or private sector in instances of disputed ownership between occupiers and developers, but that there was a question of justice which cannot be ignored.
“The question of justice is inevitably bound up with the question of ownership,” he said. “To pretend otherwise is to bury your head in the sand,” he remarked.
“The legal aspects of these cases may favour the developers but questions of justice and equity may be on the side of the long-standing occupants,” he observed.
He said the tug of conflicting imperatives of legality and of justice thrown up by some of these disputes was hard to resolve.
“Frank admission of this difficulty is not a counsel of despair; it is a confession that on certain issues, the law and the imperatives of justice are in conflict,” opined Anwar.
He said the role of government in such cases ought to tilt in favour of the people in distress who could not help themselves.
“For that reason, PKR has formed a special task force with deputy president Syed Husin Ali in charge to study these issues so that their resolution does not adversely affect the people involved,” said Anwar.
Legacy issues involving land
PKR is a member of the ruling Pakatan Rakyat coalition in both Penang and Selangor where the state governments are grabbling with legacy land issues from previous BN administrations.
On Thursday, some 65 families from 24 homes are to be evicted from Kampung Buah Pala - the last remaining Indian traditional urban village in Penang - to pave way for a condominium project.
The 100-year-old village is known among locals as ‘Tamil High Chaparral’ because of its population of cowherds, cattles, goats and Tamil traditional cultural features.
The embattled residents lost their final court battle last week when the Federal Court ruled in favour of the developer.
The DAP-led Penang government has been slammed for failing to do more to stop the eviction.
http://malaysiakini.com/news/107410