"Malaysians have former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to thank for creating the opportunity for greedy Umno chieftains to “legally seize” whatever land they want in the name of development.
It was Mahathir who, in 1991 used Barisan Nasional (BN)’s brute majority in Parliament to pass by 99 to 25 votes the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill.
The amendments basically gave incontestable power to state governments to seize private land for development by private companies and individuals.
Lands originally acquired for public purposes can also be used for private development."
"Before the amendments, land could only be acquired for public purposes or for public utilities like building of roads, schools, hospitals, pipelines, water or power plants, etc.
The amendments triggered the start of land grabs in Johor in 1992, with then Mentri Besar, now Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin seizing 32,000 acres in Johor.
Muhyiddin’s most widely publicised land grab attempt was the acquisition of 6,600 acres in Tebrau through the Johor State Islamic Economic Development Corporation.
Stamford Holdings Sdn Bhd then sued Muhyiddin Yassin, businessmen Yahya Talib and Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, for damages for alleged conspiracy to acquire land with the use of the Act.
The land acquisition civil suit was settled out of court for a total of RM405 million in 1999.
Today, the land grabs in Johor are carried out by Mentri Besar Ghani Othman through his most trusted crony, Tan Sri Dato’ Lim Kang Hoo (LKH), and links with Danga Bay and Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ). Ghani is KPRJ chairman.
Ghani and his state government are now using the Act to mop up as much land as possible from the majority Malays."
"In the making is Pengerang where the non-sustainable Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project is to be located. Rapid needs only about 6,000 acres but Ghani is using the Act to acquire 22,500 acres!
If Ghani is allowed to continue with Rapid, thousands of villagers, the majority of who are Malays, will be forced out of their land after getting peanuts as compensation.
Schools, mosques and surau, hospitals and clinics, cemeteries century old villages will all be uprooted for property development.
This has been BN-Umno’s land grab modus operandi since 1992.
More misery and land grabs are expected to be launched by greedy Umno cronies if the rakyat, especially Johoreans, continue to give their mandate to BN-Umno to govern."
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http://chuajuimeng123.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
A friend called me up to inform me that he found the post title 'Stop the land grabs in Johor or lose all to Umno' misleading. I quoted it verbatim from Chua's blog, so I am reluctant to change it. It didn't occur to me at all, as I was under the impression it means a call to the voters to stop the land grabs (as detailed) by voting out Umno, or you will lose all (land) to Umno.
It is always a problem when deciding on a title for a post. Sometimes, when inspired, I would be tempted to put in my own esp. if I think it is catchy. Other times, like in this case, I used the blogger's and it was a surprise to me that my friend would find it misleading!
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