Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has agreed to form a joint committee with Rawang new village residents in order to work out an amicable solution to a land dispute.

rawang protest 170310 08 The decision to form the committee was arrived during a meeting between 10 villagers and eight TNB representatives, chaired by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.

Other participants in the meeting included Selangor exco in charge of local governments Ronnie Liu, Selayang MP William Leong and Rawang state assemblyperson Gan Pei Nei.

The decision to form a joint committee comes in the wake of threats by TNB to demolish the Rawang new village on Monday to make way for the construction of high tension power cables.

The demolition was called off at the eleventh-hour as villagers mounted barricades and formed human shields to prevent the authorities from entering their land.

Following this, the federal government, which owns TNB, announced that the demolition exercise have been called off pending talks between the company and the villagers today.

rawang anti high tension cable protest 170310 05 When contacted, Leong ( middle in yellow ) said the villagers would hold internal discussions first before the committee can hold its inaugural meeting. The villagers would be briefed tonight.

He adds that the TNB representatives appeared happy with the outcome because both parties were making headway after a long stalemate.

Leong said the villagers explained to TNB that they were not against the power cable project but appealed for the utility company to use an alternative site offered by the Selangor government.

“Villagers told TNB that the path of the project should be on the least disruptive design and route basis and that the villager’s safety and welfare should be the company’s top priority,” said Leong.

After a long legal battle, the Federal Court allowed TNB to proceed with the project but some 60 families are resisting eviction.