Remembering IIB's relocation of Kampung Pendas Laut

I was involved in a bit of a tiff with a commenter in this posting Pulling out the racial card in Pengerang

It went like this -

Anonymous24 August 2012 08:03

Tak apalah anak, atas nama pembangunan ambillah tanah-tanah Melayu seperti yang telah dilakukan di Gelang Patah dulu. Tiada siapa yang perlu Melayu salahkan bila di bumi Melayu ini suatu hari yang tiada tanah sendiri adalah orang Melayu sendiri. Mungkin ketika itu barulah akan timbul kesedaran di minda Melayu melihat kaum lain mempunyai tanah kerana mereka menentang dan mempertahankan tanah mereka dirampas. Ketika itu jangan sekali-kali orang Melayu salahkan kaum lain atas kealpaan orang Melayu sendiri yang menggadai tanah untuk ringgit.

BIGCAT24 August 2012 08:28

Pakchik/makchik tolonglah jangan buta sejarah atau pura-pura tidak tahu fakta. Tak pernah kerajaan merampas tanah sesiapa tak kira bangsa di negara ni. Cuba imbas balik apa yang berlaku ketika pengabilan tanah untuk PTP di Gelang Patah dulu. Bercakap biar lah jujur. Ada atau tidak pampasan samaada dari bentuk tanah, tapak rumah dan wang tunai diberikan secukupnya? Tolong jangan berbohong disini. Juga cuba ingot sekiranya berlaku insiden-insiden seperti wang pampasan di habiskan bergembira di Batam sehingga yang tinggal hanya tapak rumah dan kemudiannya menuntut tambahan pampasan? Jangan lah jadi si Kitul yang menghasut dan menjual bangsa Melayu untuk kepentingan politik dan diri sendiri. Terima kasih.

Anonymous24 August 2012 23:03

Ya sayang anak oi, tanah-tanah yang diambil dari orang Melayu kat Gelang Patah, ia sememangnya orang Melayu dapat sekupang dua tapi tanah itu dijual semula dan dipindahmilik dengan harga beratusan ringgit sekaki. Akhirnya yang kini mendiami rumah-rumah mewah ditanah milik orang Melayu suatu ketika dulu adalah orang Singapore, orang Cina Indonesia, orang Cina tempatan dan sekerat dua orang Melayu.

Orang Melayu pula dimana? Mereka kini hidup di pinggiran rumah mewah di flet-flet perumahan rakyat. Hilang tanah, hilang mata pencarian dan tinggal dengan kenangan orang Melayu menipu orang Melayu.

Anakku, biarpun kamu penyokong tegar UMNO sesakali sedarlah bagaimana bangsa kita sedikit demi sedikit atas nama pembangunan hilang tanah bumi Melayu kita. Jangan sokong sampai taksub dengan UMNO. Saya anak Kg Pendas. yang tanah diambil dengan harga tidak berpatutan dan pampasan tidak dapat memungkinkan saya beli hartanah dibumi emas Gelang Patah.

BIGCAT25 August 2012 00:03

Mula-mula kata tanah kena rampas, sekarang kata pampasan tak berpatutan. Cuba cerita sikit berapa pampasan yang dapat dan macam mana rupa rumah asal awak dengan rumah yang di beri sebagai ganti di Pendas Laut tu. Kalau ada tanah, ada hakmilik tak? Hal Pendas Laut ni jangan nak tipu lah, saya ada kat situ dari mula sampai habis semua penduduk dipindahkan. Masa tu juak-juak Pas ada cuba menghasut tapi orang kampung tak berapa nak layan. Pihak IIB yang menguruskan perpindahan tu melakukan kerja dengan baik, siap dengan penerangan dan pampasan yang baik. Rumah ganti tu pun cukup cantik dan selesa serta berada hanya diseberang sungai kampung asal. Awak ni salah sorang Pas yang menghasut dulu tu ke? Sudah sudah la jadi barua DAP menghasut orang melayu. Takde pekdahnya pun kat anak cucu.

For those who are not well versed in Bahasa Malaysia, the commenter was actually accusing the government of seizing land from the people, particularly Malays. This was in relation to the impending land acquisition exercise to take place in Pengerang as part of the project to build the mammoth petroleum hub there.

Honestly, I did lose my patient with the commenter, thus my long replies. I was particularly miffed   when he/she claimed to be one of the villagers of Pendas Laut, near Gelang Patah, Johor who were not properly compensated when relocated in 2009 to make way for a development under the Iskandar Malaysia. I remember it very well that Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB) which was responsible for the relocation being extremely careful about the whole thing. There were no such thing as land being seized and the villagers not being properly compensated.

 The about 120 families of Kampung Pendas Laut were mostly living in wooden houses at the water edge of the Sungai Pendas. Most were fishermen, These were their houses before the relocation -

I remember having lunch with the IIB people at a riverside restaurant on the other side of the river bank while discussing about the relocation of the village. Scenic place...and the asam pedas there was among the best around. The restaurant had however since burnt down and the last time I checked its reconstruction was not yet completed.

I recalled one of the IIB guys by the name of Mat Nor telling me about the details of how to relocate a Chinese grave. The handsome fella turned out to be the person in charge of  relocating all the graves at the village which include some old Chinese graves. He was present at every single one of the relocation of the graves that he became quite knowledgable about the whole thing. He said he and a colleague need to be present as they must ensure everything went smoothly and all the rituals were adhered.

I also remember the IIB corp comm team working tirelessly with State government officials to ensure the villagers were properly briefed about their relocation to prevent any anxiety among them. 

Pas, PKR and DAP people did try to influence the villagers against the relocation but their efforts were not successful. The relocation package was simply too good for them to make an issue out of it.

Everything went smoothly and the villagers happily moved to their new settlement called Kampung Pendas Baru which is just on the other side of the river bank. They were reasonably compensated financially and these are their new homes -

I took this picture from a blog belonging to a Singaporean Malay who admired the new modern village so much. You can read his take on the new village here -

Kampung Tepian Laut Moderen – Kampung Pendas Baru