Manggatal squatters demolished
Published on: Thursday, September 15, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Recent illegally built structures on a 10-hectare site belonging to City Hall, in Manggatal, were demolished, Wednesday. There was some resistance from settlers when the enforcement teams moved in but the demolition went smoothly after nearly an hour of discussion between City Hall officers and several settlers as well as Sepanggar MP Datuk Jumat Idris, who was also present. ADVERTISEMENT Jumat said he was satisfied with what City Hall has shown him and that the land legally belonged to City Hall.He was, however, unhappy that this information was kept from him until Wednesday. "I would have given the villagers proper advice if I was informed of the changes. "If they did not hide the facts, the villagers would not have gone to the extent of forking out their personal funds to open the land. They are here because they have already met with the ACLR and everyone kept quiet about this. ADVERTISEMENT "So when the villagers met me, I advised them to form a committee and write a letter to the ACLR, City Hall, the Land and Survey Department and the navy to inform of their intentions to develop the said land. "As a Member of Parliament, I also did my homework, I met with the ACLR, I attended the Land Utilisation Committee (LUC) meeting and was informed that the status of the land still remained unchanged, that it was meant for the relocation of these three villages.
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"They opened the land because they could no longer wait for the Government to take the initiative to do something. "I have already advised villagers to step back and not to continue building any more structures on the site until we will discuss the next course of action." "Perhaps after this they will appeal to the government, City Hall or the developer, it is up to the people and up to the authorities to reconsider," he said. Settlers claimed the land was applied for by the navy as a permanent village settlement, especially for Kg Sabang, Lok Butah and Lok Madas which had to be relocated to make way for the construction of the Sepanggar Naval base. The settlers set up a Village Land Management Committee in 2002 when no action was said to be taken by the State and Federal Governments to build a permanent settlement to those relocated to Kg Numbak. "The land had been offered to City Hall since 2014 and a premium had already been paid. However, the land surveying process was blocked by the settlers from a neighbouring village," said City Hall Enforcement Department Director Abdul Mukti Muchlish. He said demolition was conducted in the area in May this year when City Hall found several structures on the land. "The settlers were advised against building anymore structures on the site. However, we discovered more structures on the site during inspections last week," he said. "This prompted us to again remove structures on the site with the presence of police, Land and Survey Department, those from the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue (ACLR) and the Department of Environment. "We also called the Forestry Department after illegal mangrove cutting activity was found in the area," he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"We will demolish half the structures, while the remaining structures will be removed with assistance from the settlers," he said. The said land also came into the spotlight in mid-June when the Village Land Management Committee Chairman of Kg Sabang, Lok Butah and Lok Madas lodged a police report following allegations by a villager who claimed plots of said land are being sold using his name.