Johoreans must dump BN to save their land

Johoreans must dump BN to save their land

By Chua Jui Meng

Chua delivering his address at the Pengerang PKR Chinese New Year dinner cum ceramah at Dewan Poh Aur Kong in Sungai Rengit on Jan 25, 2013.

THE only way for Pengerang villagers to prevent from being “robbed” of their land is to dump the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) Johor and federal governments in the coming general election.

Only a change in both governments can Johoreans put a stop to BN-Umno leaders’ misuse and abuse of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 to enrich themselves, their families and cronies.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s PKR, DAP and PAS leaders were present at the Sept 30, 2012, Himpunan Hijau rally in Pengerang to protest the massive acquisition of land for the Refinery & Petrochemical Integrated Complex (Rapid).

We care for your (Pengerang folk) interest. But where were your MP (Azalina Othman) and assemblymen? Where was your Mentri Besar (Ghani Othman)?

Eviction has already started in stages but Ghani has yet to reveal the quantum of compensation for affected villagers and also alternative accommodation.

Rapid will wipe out 17 kampongs whose residents are
mostly Malays. The 180-year-old Pekan Pengerang, a Chinese town, will suffer the same fate.

Pengerangites will lose their traditional livelihood and their environment will be highly polluted.

Not only will you lose your land, the cemeteries of your loved ones will also be exhumed.

If you want to save your land and cemeteries, you must reject BN in the 13^th General Election.

The land grabs in Johor started in 1992 with the then Mentri Besar Muhyiddin Yassin, now deputy prime minister, acquiring a total of 32 million acres.

The BN-Umno’s simple modus operandi is to use the Act to grab land cheaply for property development.

Ultimately, the properties are sold at sky high prices, affordable only to rich Singaporeans and non-Johoreans.

In Pengerang, Rapid and the property development will not benefit Johoreans.

Rapid was first proposed to the PR Selangor government by Everwish Sdn Bhd on behalf of Taiwan’s Kuo Kuang Corporation which failed to secure an extension of the operation of its 52-year-old refinery in Kaoshiung from the Taiwan government.

A section of Pengerang’s Sungai Rengit folk at the PKR Chinese New Year dinner cum ceramah on Jan 25, 2013.

The Taiwan government had rejected the request for an extension of operations due to public protest that the refinery posed polluting, public health and safety hazards.

After due consideration by the Selangor PR government under Khalid Ibrahim, the proposed Rapid in Pulau Indah was rejected in February 2011.

This was despite a significant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of RM10 billion, the creation of 2,600 new jobs and 20,000 indirect employment opportunities.

Everwish also projected that Rapid had a potential to earn foreign exchange reserves of RM13 billion per year.

Unlike BN-Umno leaders who value revenue more than public health and safety, PR leaders and governments will ensure that only sustainable projects and industries are approved.

The Malays are beginning to see through Umno’s 55 years of misleading the community to enrich its leaders, their families and cronies.

Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia president Syed Ali Alattas had lamented that the Malays in Johor are the poorest in Malaysia, with cost of living skyrocketing due to the significant presence of foreigners (Singaporeans) residing in the state.

He also pointed to the fact that 80% of the former Malay-majority owned Iskandar land was now foreign-owned.

Syed Ali said even the Malays in Kelantan were richer because one can buy more with the ringgit in the east coast state.

The Malays can buy a bungalow for RM200,000 in Kelantan but the same would cost RM1.5 million in Johor.

In the past two decades, thousands of acres of Malay ancestral and reserve land had been acquired by Muhyiddin and now the Ghani-led Johor government using the Land Acquisition Act.

Here’s what Syed Ali lamented at a a Malay economic congress:

Kedudukan Melayu Johor membimbangkan

Jamilah Kamarudin

 | January 15, 2013

Tanah kerajaan diswastakan tanpa mengira harga dan mudaratnya kepada bangsa Melayu serta rakyat Johor keseluruhannya.

KUALA LUMPUR: Masa depan hak ekuiti masyarakat Melayu Johor kini didakwa semakin merosot dan jurang perbezaan prestasi ekonominya kian membesar akibat lambakan pelabur asing masuk ke negeri itu.

Kebimbangan itu dinyatakan wakil agensi kerajaan, perwakilan Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Malaysia (DPPMM) dan badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) dalam satu resolusi Kongres Ekonomi Melayu Peringkat Zon Selatan.

Presiden DPMM Datuk Syed Ali Alattas ketika membentangkan resolusi yang tercapai pada 6 Januari lalu itu berkata, kongres turut kesal
dengan isu hak milik tanah orang Melayu Johor apabila tanah kerajaan diswastakan tanpa mengira harga dan mudaratnya kepada bangsa Melayu serta rakyat Johor keseluruhannya.

Syed Ali berkata, Keluaran Dalam Negeri Kasar (KDNK) Johor akan ditentukan daripada projek pembangunan Iskandar Malaysia di mana 80 peratus daripadanya dikuasai pelabur asing.

“Projek Iskandar memundur dan memiggirkan orang Melayu dari segi ekonomi sekaligus meningkatkan jurang kemiskinan,” katanya dalam sidang media di pejabatnya di sini hari ini.

Katanya, pendapatan perkapita penduduk Johor juga semakin rendah apabila kebanyakan masyarakat Melayu kini tidak mampu lagi membeli rumah di sekitar kawasan Iskandar.

`Tanah sendiri dimiliki orang asing’

“Bayangkan rumah dengan keluasan 1, 300 kaki persegi kini mencecah RM1juta. Individu yang bergaji RM5,000 pun tak mampu membelinya kerana bank hanya membenarkan pinjaman sehingga RM200,000 sahaja.

“Lebih teruk tanah sendiri dimiliki orang asing…ini situasi merbahaya yang dihadapi penduduk Johor,” katanya.

Koridor pembangunan yang dimiliki Khazanah Nasional Berhad dan terletak di Selatan Johor itu mempunyai keluasan kira-kira 500,000 ekar, kira-kira tiga kali ganda daripada keluasan Singapura.

Sehubungan itu, Kongres itu mencapai satu resolusi mahu mendesak kerajaan memperuntukkan 30 peratus (24,000 ekar) Nusajaya kepada orang Melayu.

Selain itu, kongres turut meminta Jambatan Selat Tebrau yang dikenali sebagai ‘Jambatan Bengkok’ yang terbengkalai diteruskan semula.

“Rugi kalau jambatan yang dibina dengan kos RM700 juta itu terbiar. Kalau tambah modal RM700 juta lagi boleh selesai,” katanya.

Kongres itu juga mengambil ketetapan untuk menggunakan status Melayu, dan bukan lagi Bumiputera bagi mengelakkan daripada penyelewengan dan kekeliruan kepada status ‘Bumiputera’ dimanipulasi oleh pihak lain demi keuntungan pihak tertentu.