Water villages growing in Bum-Bum Island

Thousands of Bajau folks continue to live at shelters on water villages off Pulau Bum-Bum without fear of threat.

They have been squatting the island for decades, as they felt it was the only commune they could be for the rest of their life.

An island-born fisherman, Nijar Abdul, 49, said the population on the water village was increasing steadily with the absence of local authorities to control or restrict the rise.

"Those intending to build new houses or extending houses structure due to growing family members, rightfully, should get the permission from village head but in most cases some have not done so,” he said when met at the jetty in Semporna.

Nijar's family had lived on the water villages since before he was born and had been shifting from one area to another since the last couple of years.

"Most of my family members are fishermen who depend solely on fishing yields to feed their children and for schooling... nothing much we can do in Semporna," he said.

A boat operator, Yusof Maligai, 52, said the local authority had been lenient on enforcing the law and as a result the number of houses on water villages escalate uncontrollably.

"Undeniably living in houses close to one another on water villages poses a danger and places our family members at risk... but what can we do, we have no land here," he said.

It is estimated that more than 3,000 people live on the water village with two to three families in one house.

Government leaders have discouraged villagers from living at water villages and have urged them to move back to the mainland following the Lahad Datu incident, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ear, because new houses on the water villages could be seen almost at every corner.

- Bernama