During a visit to the village yesterday, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said his administration had agreed to let the villagers move to a neighbouring piece of land.

“We are giving them the land for free and we’ll build houses for the 26 families being evicted,” he said.

Kampung Permatang Tok Subuh is located in the middle of the Bukit Minyak industrial area in Bukit Mertajam.

Lim gave the villagers their offer letters during his visit. He said the 26 families would have to pay RM25,000 each for their new homes. “The price for a low-cost home is RM45,000, but for the villagers here, we’ll charge only RM25,000,” he said.

The state will build 37 houses on the new location. Lim said the other 11 houses would be for those who had been occupying the land without permits.

The villagers had been facing eviction since May 2013, about a year after the five-acre plot was bought by the present landowner. Half of the 52 families decided to move out, but the rest decided to fight for fair compensation.

The village action committee decided that the RM10,000 to RM37,000 offered by the landowner to each family was not acceptable. Many of the villagers work at low paying jobs. Others are unemployed or do not have permanent jobs.

The 26 families sought help from the state government and took their case to court. They were unsuccessful in their legal battle. Last February, they received notices telling them to vacate the land.

With the state’s intervention, the landowner last year raised the compensation money to between RM25,000 and RM44,000 per household.

Although the villagers have accepted the compensation, they are still in talks with the landowner to refine the written agreement.

The beneficiaries of the 11 extra houses will get their homes for free. “The state will bear the cost,” Lim said.

Village action committee chief Hamidah Che Embi thanked the state government, Lim, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim and Machang Bubok assemblyman Lee Khai Loon for their help.