Residents protest Penang Island City Council order to clear ‘community farm’
Residents action committee chairman Samsuddin Hussain showing the mango trees he grew in front of his house along Pintasan Kelicap, Bayan Lepas, Penang.
GEORGE TOWN: Residents at Pintasan Kelicap in Bayan Lepas want the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to revoke notices it has issued to clear the “community farm” on the road shoulders in front of their houses.
The Pintasan Kelicap residents action committee also wants the council to sit down with them to discuss alternatives.
The residents claim they have been growing fruit trees and herbal plants on the road shoulders in the neighbourhood for the last 20 years.
“We want the MBPP to revoke the 14-day notice issued to half of the 84 households on Oct 18 and Oct 29, ordering them to clear the road shoulders in front of their houses,” committee vice-chairman Harnani Hassan said at a joint press conference with the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) today.
The committee wants a meeting with MBPP and their assemblyman, Azrul Mahathir Aziz, to discuss a better solution.
GEORGE TOWN: Residents at Pintasan Kelicap in Bayan Lepas want the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to revoke notices it has issued to clear the “community farm” on the road shoulders in front of their houses.
The Pintasan Kelicap residents action committee also wants the council to sit down with them to discuss alternatives.
The residents claim they have been growing fruit trees and herbal plants on the road shoulders in the neighbourhood for the last 20 years.
“We want the MBPP to revoke the 14-day notice issued to half of the 84 households on Oct 18 and Oct 29, ordering them to clear the road shoulders in front of their houses,” committee vice-chairman Harnani Hassan said at a joint press conference with the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) today.
The committee wants a meeting with MBPP and their assemblyman, Azrul Mahathir Aziz, to discuss a better solution.
Committee vice-chairman Harnani Hassan with the Penang Island City Council’s notice to clear the land.
Harnani said the residents were not satisfied with Azrul’s advice to them to adhere to MBPP’s notice.
“We also want to discuss with MBPP whether our ‘community farm’ can be recognised as an urban farm. We want them to explain what they are going to do with the road shoulders once these are cleared,” she told FMT.
She said MBPP had informed them the crops and trees had been planted on the road shoulders without its permission, and that it had issued the notices following public complaints.
Harnani said the residents were not satisfied with Azrul’s advice to them to adhere to MBPP’s notice.
“We also want to discuss with MBPP whether our ‘community farm’ can be recognised as an urban farm. We want them to explain what they are going to do with the road shoulders once these are cleared,” she told FMT.
She said MBPP had informed them the crops and trees had been planted on the road shoulders without its permission, and that it had issued the notices following public complaints.
The ‘community farm’ along Pintasan Kelicap planted with a variety of fruit trees and herbal plants.
Committee chairman Samsuddin Hussain, 80, who has been living in the neighbourhood since 1999, said the fruit trees functioned as a buffer zone between their houses and the main road, Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim.
“These fruit trees have shielded our homes from the sweltering heat and the exhaust fumes from the main road,” he said.
CAP hoped the council would give due consideration to the wishes of the residents by revoking the notices.
“We sent an official letter to the mayor and the council’s director of landscape on Nov 1 to express our sympathy for the residents,” said its president, Mohideen Abdul Kader.
Committee chairman Samsuddin Hussain, 80, who has been living in the neighbourhood since 1999, said the fruit trees functioned as a buffer zone between their houses and the main road, Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim.
“These fruit trees have shielded our homes from the sweltering heat and the exhaust fumes from the main road,” he said.
CAP hoped the council would give due consideration to the wishes of the residents by revoking the notices.
“We sent an official letter to the mayor and the council’s director of landscape on Nov 1 to express our sympathy for the residents,” said its president, Mohideen Abdul Kader.
Residents staging a peaceful picket against the council’s order.
“CAP supports agricultural activities by residents as it has a positive effect on their lives as well as on the environment. Besides, this effort shows the success of the state government’s slogan of ‘Penang, Green and Clean’ and the urban agriculture project launched by the federal government.”
The “community farm” has 30 mango trees, 20 coconut trees, five murungai trees, five star fruit trees, five ciku trees and an assortment of herbal plants.
Samsuddin told FMT the fruits and herbs harvested from the “community farm” were shared among residents.
At the event, the residents held a peaceful picket to protest the order issued by MBPP.
“CAP supports agricultural activities by residents as it has a positive effect on their lives as well as on the environment. Besides, this effort shows the success of the state government’s slogan of ‘Penang, Green and Clean’ and the urban agriculture project launched by the federal government.”
The “community farm” has 30 mango trees, 20 coconut trees, five murungai trees, five star fruit trees, five ciku trees and an assortment of herbal plants.
Samsuddin told FMT the fruits and herbs harvested from the “community farm” were shared among residents.
At the event, the residents held a peaceful picket to protest the order issued by MBPP.
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kt comments:
Strangely of late, by some coincidence, I have been thinking of the mango trees I planted outside my old house in PJ when I was working in KL. And I also thought of the island-strip of land that was in front of my house (among other houses along the street that I resided at).
Yes, that island-strip of land was just beyond-across my street but which, as in above news, also separated my street from the main road. I thought of buying that piece of land in front of my house (though just beyond my street) to plant stuff that I could then put a fence around and call it my 'remote' garden. Then the remote garden would serve for me as a green screen to the main road. I had never got around to that and before long I had to move to Australia for a new job.
Such a green screen would indeed be beneficial in terms of minimising noise, dust and highway fumes from my house, apart from shielding my eyes from an unending stream of traffic.
Thus I am very sympathetic to the above reported residents of Pintasan Kelicap in Bayan Lepas appealing to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to leave their island-strip gardens alone, unless of course those 'gardens' pose obstacles to traffic (over growing branches), plumbing, drainage (vigorous roots) and any of the Council expansion plans for that road.
The trees, palms and vegetations (flowering shrubs, hedges, herb plants, etc) serve as excellent screen to the undesirable unpleasant and unhealthy problems of nearby flowing traffic. Furthermore, trees in particular, also help to cool down the neighbourhood. I hope the MBPP will be reasonable, practical and not be bloody-mindedly pedantic in its administration and management of the suburbs.
Related: Mango tree (25 March 2017)
The land definitely belongs to MBPP, and the Council was probably thinking in legal terms to formally assert its rights.
ReplyDeleteIn Malaysia , there is a tendency for assuming "possession is 9 /10 s of the law" , and it can be very messy and costly to get people off your land, if you let them use your land for a long time without raising any official objection.
This is true even for the government.
My own view is the residents should be allowed to keep growing plants on the strip of land , as long as they undertake not to place anything permanent on the land, or block other members of the public from crossing the land, for example