The Malaysian Diocese of Penang is under fire for allegedly
attempting to evict residents from church-owned houses without adequate
compensation.
Local official Andrew Rajah said it was “unfair and unethical” for
the church to do this, especially since the families and their ancestors
had been living there for more than a century, Free Malaysia Today
reports
“The British built and managed the church. The colonial rulers built
houses within the church compound to provide homes for poor Christian
families, especially ethnic Tamils.
“They allowed the residents to live permanently in the area as part of the church’s social responsibility,” he added.
In September, the families received a summon each from the lawyers
representing the Bishop’s office calling on them to vacate the houses
soon. Each household was offered RM10,000 cash in compensation.
But the sum would dwindle after deductions for outstanding rentals plus interests, which could amount to RM7,525 each.
The families were paying a monthly rental of RM200 each until 13
months ago when the church management suddenly stopped collecting the
rent
“The accumulation of rental arrears were caused by the church’s
action, not residents’ inaction,” said Rajah, who is helping the
residents take legal action against the Bishop’s office.
Technically, the land-title was under the Bishop’s ownership courtesy of the Roman Catholic Bishops (Incorporation) Act 1957.
But the residents claimed that conventionally the property belonged
to Christians associated with the St Francis Xavier Church for over 100
years.
Rajah claimed that historically the church property was meant for religious, residential and education purposes.
He said it was supposedly a Tamil Christian community settlement in the city.
“But now the church management wants to flush out the residents for
commercial purposes. The management has already turned several vacated
houses to bakeries and coffee shops,” he added.
SIC: CTH/ASIA