Another protest at Komtar over eviction of eight families

GEORGE TOWN: More than 40 people are staging another protest at the Komtar lobby here over the eviction of eight families from the Taman Manggis People's Housing Project.

The group of people, including residents of the Taman Manggis PPR, were later joined by several men on a lorry with loudspeakers, shouting, "zalim, zalim" (cruel, cruel).

It was believed the men on the lorry were not residents of the Taman Manggis PPR.

A few men then climbed on the lorry and shouted in a bid to express their distress over the eviction.   

The protest started after political secretary to the Prime Minister, Abu Bakar Yahya's visit to Komtar, to meet with the state Housing Department officials and representatives of the constituency.

Earlier, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad sent Abu Bakar Yahya to follow up on the issue, after tweeting that he will be at Manila for an official visit for three days.

Abu Bakar Yahya said the purpose of his visit is to understand the issue and to acquire the proper facts.

"We do not want to make things worse or blame any party for this issue because we see this matter as a propaganda and we do not want to listen to rumours which are untrue.

"So we are meeting with the constituency representatives and the Housing Department to get the proper details and facts," he said at a press conference on Thursday (March 7).

He said he hoped the people can wait for the legal bodies involved to come up with a solution and not listen to rumours.

"We have our rules, laws and regulations and we believe nothing cannot be solved, so we hope the residents who are here at Komtar will try to cooperate with us in the time being," he added.