Defiant airport squatters finally start packing up
Published on: Tuesday, November 08, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Authorities have started evicting squatters occupying vacant government land adjacent to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Monday. The squatters scrambled for their belongings as a bulldozer was brought in to demolish at least 27 makeshift homes in the integrated operation involving numerous departments, led by City Hall. It would take the authorities about two days to clear the colony just a few hundred metres from the airport's runway in Kepayan here.
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City Hall Enforcement Chief Abdul Mukti Muchlish said the squatters, the majority of them foreign migrants, had waited until the eleventh hour to move out. Eviction notices were issued on Oct. 19. "But we will give them time to clear their belongings," said Abdul Mukti, adding that demolition of structures would only start once the squatters have cleared the area.An appeal to halt the operation also arrived at the City Hall office days after the notices were issued but was rejected by the Mayor (Datuk Yeo Boon Hai) soon after. Several Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd technicians were also on the ground to disconnect the illegal power connection during the operation.
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Based on City Hall records, there used to be hundreds of squatters occupying the land until the colony was demolished by the local government in 2008. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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The local government plans to remove all the workshops built on the land, next.
