Wednesday September 23, 2009
Atmosphere at Tanjung Tokong village different this time around
By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG
GEORGE TOWN: Hari Raya was greeted with merriment by one group of villagers at the 200-year-old Kampung Tanjung Tokong but there was an air of melancholy over the other part of the village which is to make way for a mixed-development project.
The atmosphere, according to Kampung Tanjung Tokong Residents Association adviser Mahmud Yusoff, was only “so-so” compared to previous years.
“This year’s celebrations seem to be slower paced. I noticed very few people visiting each other on the second day of Raya,” he said.
He felt the scaled-down celebrations were partly because of the economic slowdown and also because some of the villagers had moved out at the beginning of the year after accepting developer Uda Holdings Bhd’s offer.
Uda Holdings had announced that it planned to build low- and medium-cost flats, apartments, condominiums and commercial buildings with a gross sales value of between RM800mil and RM1bil on a 9.6ha site at the village.
Association chairman Mohd Salleh Yahaya said there were 1,026 families living in 260 houses at the village of which 60 houses would be demolished to make way for the development in April next year.
Of the affected houses, he said about two-thirds of the villagers had moved into transit homes provided by Uda Holdings while the rest had been told to vacate their homes by next month.
Mahmud said the unity at the village had been “spoiled by the conflict” between two separate camps in the village.
Suara Penduduk Tanjung Tokong spokesman Mohamad Musannif Zainal Abidin, however, claimed that the remaining households affected by the development were now “more close-knit and united than ever before.”
“This Phase 4A development affects 100 houses. Those living in 60 of the houses have already moved out in January.
“Of the remaining 40, we are representing 37 households who agree with the development and are in negotiations with Uda Holdings.
The other three households have sought the association’s help,” he said.
He said the reduced number of villagers brought those remaining there closer together.
“We co-operated and did things together this Raya that we never did before such as cooking lemang and stirring dodol,” he said.
Mohamad Musannif said that the 37 households accepted the fact that development had to take place, and the bright picture was that they would have a new home to live in.
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