“INSTIGATORS” played up the eviction of Taman Manggis PPR tenants who no longer qualify for public housing under the pretext of helping them, said a Penang exco today.

Dr Afif Bahardin said the tenants themselves were “intimidated” by these people, who wanted to keep the protest going.

“There were parties instigating them. Otherwise, the issue would have been settled long ago. But some quarters had an ulterior motive.

“They (tenants) themselves said they were intimidated by the people who took advantage of them… the people who did Facebook Live downstairs everyday,” he told a press conference at Komtar.

The state evicted 22 tenants from the Taman Manggis People’s Housing Project (PPR), but several families fought the eviction order when their units were locked last Wednesday.

Seven families slept outside Komtar in protest until some of them negotiated for alternative housing, while others decided to leave voluntarily yesterday.

Dr Afif said the episode was settled because the Penang government negotiated directly with the tenants, and not via a third party.

“There is no government that does not want its citizens to have homes.”

The Seberang Jaya assemblyman said he does not believe the “instigators” achieved anything.

State housing exco Jagdeep Singh Deo also dismissed claims by certain quarters that they achieved a “moral victory” after the tenants ended the protest.

He said the state government did not bow to any party in settling with the tenants.

“That does not arise. The tenants are now going to get better homes.”

Yesterday, the Housing Department negotiated with three families, offering them low-cost housing elsewhere in the district. The others voluntarily left.

The state is considering the applications of some families for low- and low-medium-cost homes. – March 13, 2019.