Sabah villagers protest plan to build shelter for fire victims

Saying the land belongs to them, villagers fear that a transit will eventually become a permanent settlement.

Residents from Kampung Darau gather to protest a plan to shelter victims of the Kampung Cenderamata on a piece of land in their village.

KOTA KINABALU: Residents at a village in Sepanggar are opposing a plan to build a transit settlement for victims of a fire that left over 700 people homeless here earlier this week.

Some 250 people from Kampung Darau gathered to protest the plan to allocate 16 acres for the purpose, as announced by Sepanggar MP Azis Jamman recently.

“We reject the proposal wholeheartedly. This land is as an annex to our village. We have always considered the land to be the answer to our need for more space due to the growing population of our village,” said their spokesman Ashin Jamat.

He said past applications for the land were rejected.

“But now suddenly we hear of this plan,” he said.

More than 700 people, including about 100 foreigners, were left homeless when fire destroyed 150 homes in Kampung Cenderamata, Likas on Tuesday.

Following this, Azis, who is also the deputy home minister, said the government would build a temporary settlement for the victims in Kg Darau, which is about 8km away.

The victims are put up in a nearby multipurpose hall for now.

Ashin said villagers sympathised with them but could not accept outsiders living on their land.

“There is a lack of sensitivity towards the feelings of our villagers when our MP made the announcement,” he said, adding that villagers were never consulted on the matter.

He said villagers were concerned that the transit settlement would end up to be a permanent one.

“There is a stigma with the word (transit) because we have seen other places that have become permanent settlements when it was only meant to be transit,” Ashin said, adding that the area could easily fit about 600 new homes. -FMT