Residents ordered to vacate Tanjung Aru flats by Aug 31

 

Some 82 families remain at the low-cost flats in Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu, which were first built in 1970.

PETALING JAYA: Residents of the low-cost flats at Tanjung Aru in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, have been ordered to vacate their homes by Aug 31 by the state’s housing and urban development board.

Some residents claimed they have yet to be offered alternative housing despite the eviction notice, while an Umno leader urged the board to engage residents before going ahead with the planned eviction, The Borneo Post reported.

The board first notified residents in May 2021 that they needed  to relocate as the structure of the building had become unsafe to live in.

The residents later held protests and demanded an acceptable solution for both sides, as well as a copy of the report proving that the flats were unsafe.

A resident, Wong, who has stayed there for 26 years with his family of four, said the residents asked the state agency responsible for affordable housing to provide alternative housing for them.

However, he and the other residents have yet to be offered any alternatives.

“Now, they have issued an ultimatum to force us to move out. This is  unreasonable. I work in the tourism sector, earning barely over RM2,000 a month. I cannot afford to buy a house,” he said.

According to him, the People’s Housing Project was initially home to more than 100 families, but some of them relocated to Kibabaig, Penampang, after the board asked the residents to move out.

Eighty-two families remained at the flats, most of them from the lower-income bracket.

Fellow resident Salmah Qadir also said she had nowhere to go if she were to be evicted on Aug 31. The 67-year-old, who has three children, works as a cook to make ends meet following her husband’s death.

Her eldest son, 36, is disabled and unemployed, forcing him to live off the monthly aid from the government. Salmah’s daughter works as a cashier, earning the minimum wage, while her youngest is still in university.

“We really cannot afford to buy or rent a house now. We hope the government can help us and give us a place to stay,” she said.

Putatan Umno chief Jeffery Nor Mohamed urged the board to postpone the Aug 31 deadline to the end of the year.

Jeffery said some residents who were offered alternative housing found that these options were located far away from their workplace or their children’s school.

“I sincerely hope the board will meet with the residents of the flats, especially since many of them have been staying there since the flats were built in 1970.

“These residents deserve the utmost protection, but we are ultimately seeking a win-win situation for all,” he said. - FMT