Semporna, S'kan water villages to be relocated
Published on: Saturday, March 07, 2015
Lahad Datu: Malaysians living in several water villages in Semporna and Sandakan will be relocated. The water villages are Mangkalinau, Cahaya Baru, Muhibbah and Forest in Sandakan and nine water villages at Mukim Simunul in Semporna.Eastern Sabah Security Command Chief Executive Officer Ruji Ubi said the relocation is a priority as it is included in the 2015 Budget.In Sandakan, some 2,089 heads of families with citizenship would be relocated to 1,174 units of low cost apartment offerred by Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan and Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad at a cost of RM202.7 million.
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Meanwhile, a total of 1,371 head of families at Mukim Simunul in Semporna were relocated in 2013, he added.Of the number 832 were relocated to Projek Perumahan Rakyat at Kampung Babul Lama and another 539 are proposed to be relocated to Bugaya, he said."The census operation that was implemented managed to identify the status and number of villagers that needed to be relocated."In the meeting of Esszone Committee on Feb 11, recently, Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman had instructed Esscom to discuss the matter with National Housing Department to process immediate relocation," he said.
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Ruji said this in an interview in conjunction with the second anniversary of the Lahad Datu incursion. Water villages in Sabah have been known as a hot bed for crimes and drug activities for decades.Meanwhile, Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) will soon establish a committee to combat smuggling in the East Coast areas.
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Its Chief Executive Officer Ruji Ubi said Esscom will make it a top priority as smuggling is one of the evidences of illegal entry points into Malaysian waters via Sabah's East Coast.Based on Esscom's intelligence reports routes used by smugglers are also the same passageways used by the kidnap-for-ransom groups from the Southern Philippines into Sabah.The existence of a smuggling route in the East Coast is further reinforced with the shortage of cooking gas in Lahad Datu and cigarattes brought in illegally into the district for local consumption.The committee will discuss and formulate the best strategies to put an end to the activity, he said.On another development, villagers from Kg Tanjung Batu and Tanjung Labian whose homes were burnt down by the Sulu intruders two years ago have now settled into their new homes.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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