Putatan Council intervenes in demolition of houses
by Sandra Sokial. Posted on February 23, 2012, Thursday
KOTA KINABALU: The Putatan District Council wants the demolition of houses in Kampung Linsuk by Penampang District Council to make way for a project to be halted temporary until an alternative site is found to resettle the affected villagers.
Commenting on the matter yesterday, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin said it is irrational to evacuate people from their homes without preparing a resettlement area for them.
“We are not cruel. We are not heartless to just demolish people’s houses without preparing a place for them to stay, even animals need shelters, what more us human being,” he said.
Yahya, who was speaking to reporters after presenting the 1Malaysia People’s Assistance (BR1M) to over 1,000 people at the Putatan Multipurpose Hall, said such action in the district should be referred to the Putatan District Office.
He said the village has come under the purview of the Putatan District Office since Putatan was upgraded to a district last year.
“We have two separate district councils now, so we now have the power. The Putatan District Council wants the demolition programme halted temporary until the matter is resolved,” said Yahya, who is also Agriculture and Food Industry Minister and Petagas assemblyman.
Also present were Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister cum Tanjung Aru assemblyman Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah and Putatan Member of Parliament Datuk Marcus Mojigoh.
The demolition operation is said to involve the eviction of about 1,000 villagers who have resided there for about three decades.
These people have complained that they were not offered any resettlement area or alternative houses.
Meanwhile, Putatan District Officer Ag Abd Ghani Pg Yusoff said he wants the Penampang District Council to hand over the agreement it signed with the developer to enable them to work out the best solution to the problem.
“For now, we have requested the Penampang District Office to temporarily stop the demolition exercise,” he said.
