Labuan MP: Evicted villagers spurned rented accommodation

 

The evicted villagers in Kampung Gersik, Labuan, spurned efforts to find them new homes because they did not wish to pay any rent, said Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman.

He said that while he sympathised with their plight and had intervened to delay the eviction, the villagers did not respond to other alternative accommodations that involved payment.

"They were given six months in May and when the eviction started in November, I asked for it to be halted so we could come up with a better plan. We were willing to assist them.

"The Labuan Corporation offered them to rent apartments but they refused, saying that it is far from their place of work, and they declined to pay rent.

"For example, the LDA flats in Sungai Berdaun are very comfortable. The Labuan Corporation made an offer as early as December, but they just didn't want to take it up," said Suhaili (above).

Kampung Gersik before (left) and after the eviction

The villagers were evicted earlier this month as their homes were built on land belonging to the Sabah Islamic Religious Council (Muis).

The village’s action committee chairperson Omar Abbang reported that eviction operations were clinically carried out on March 4-8 and claimed it left up to 3,000 people homeless and living in ramshackle makeshift quarters.

‘Many are not Malaysians’

Suhaili said that there was not much that could be done because the villagers were not responsive.

"From our point of view, they are squatting on private land owned by Muis. Muis gave them a six-month notice, and then a three-month extension.

"They didn't take up our offer for rented accommodation. We are not going to provide land for them to build squatter homes again for free," said Suhaili.

The residents occupy two lots in Kampung Gersik, a land area totalling 14ha, and Suhaili dismissed claims that the majority are Malaysian citizens.

"Many of the residents are not Malaysians but those who had entered the country on the IMM13 social visit pass," he said.

Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman (in yellow T-shirt) visited Kampung Gersik to discuss an extension to the eviction deadline last November

The IMM13 passes were meant for Filipino refugees who entered Sabah without valid international travel documents from late 1972 until 1984.

Suhaili said the question of repatriation also did not arise.

"No country is going to accept them. Even their country of origin does not recognise them.

"They have to accept this situation, and taking up the rented lots would have been the correct solution," he added. - Mkini