Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari said the state government had given its word to defend the residents.

“This case involves the land owner, not the developer. They (land owner) had used the legal route to evict the residents and they won.

“But the state government intervened and will not support the eviction if the residents are not compensated,” Zairil said in an interview with FMT on Friday.

His party colleague, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, had also stated that “the residents are not orphans, the state government is their father,” said Zairil.

The villagers have lived in Kampung Permatang Tok Subuh since the 1970s. They want the landowner, Distinct Class Sdn Bhd, to compensate them with RM42,000 or provide a replacement house for each household.

In defence of the state government, Zairil said that Penang was among the states that offered the highest amount of compensation to residents who had to vacate their homes for development.

He added that any development project on affected land would not be approved until the parties involved provided the residents with appropriate compensation.

“The compensation provided to the residents in Penang are usually really high, perhaps the highest in Malaysia. No other state has policies that are as stringent for this matter. Even the developers are not pleased by the policies put in place to protect the residents.”

Zairil also cited the case of Kampung Ceti in Batu Feringgi where 300 residents there had to move out of the area when the private company that owned the land decided to develop it.

“The state government acted as a mediator between the residents and the developer. He said that the residents were not entitled to compensation as they were staying there illegally and they would lose if they went to court.

“But the state government took a solidarity approach with the people. We told the developers that since they would be making a lot of profit, they should provide some compensation so the residents would not be left high and dry.”