Taman Manggis evicted tenants camped on the ground floor of Komtar in George Town last night to offer solutions to their issue. ― Picture by Steven Ooi KE

GEORGE TOWN, March 8 ― The group of tenants evicted from Taman Manggis and protesting at Komtar here rejected offers for temporary housing, said Penang state exco Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain.

The Batu Maung assemblyman visited the group, who were camped on the ground floor of Komtar, last night to offer solutions to their issue.

“We offered temporary shelter at Hotel Raudhah, a hotel under MAINPP, for the time being until they could secure new homes to stay,” he told the Malay Mail today, referring to the Penang Islamic Religious Council.

He said arrangements were also made for the tenants to collect their belongings from their locked Taman Manggis units this morning.

“After meeting six out of the eight families in Komtar, they turned down our offer and insisted to move back to Taman Manggis so the situation remained at status quo,” he said.

The eight families camped at Komtar were part of 22 families evicted from Taman Manggis people’s housing project (PPR).

The scheme is meant for the hardcore poor with a rental of RM124 per month.

Abdul Halim believed the tenants were instigated by “certain non-governmental organisations and ultra groups” to use race as a reason to complain about their eviction.

The tenants were evicted on Wednesday. Seven have vacated the units, eight refused to move and the others are appealing.

Another state exco, Dr Afif Bahardin, also visited the protesters at Komtar this morning.

He said he spoke to state housing development and local government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo about considering the appeals of those evicted on a case-by-case basis.

“We have been discussing the eviction since 2016, this is not new, it is a difficult decision but the state has to do this in accordance with the law and regulations for PPR housing,” he said.

He said the state will consider the appeals of genuine cases as the state must be fair to those on a waiting list for a unit in Taman Manggis too.