KOTA KINABALU: Enforcement officers from Kunak and Kinabatangan District Councils would like to see more stringent laws implemented to address the squatter problems in their respective zoning areas.
According to Zuldahri Tujoh, an assistant enforcement officer with the Kinabatangan District Council, the state government should consider setting up an entity or department specifically to look into the squatter issue.
This, he opined, would stem the expansion of squatter colonies in Kinabatangan which has 91 squatter houses with 597 inhabitants in its rating area.
“Of the total, 406 are locals while 191 are suspected to be illegal immigrants,” he said, adding that there were plans to relocate the local squatters.
Meanwhile, Kunak District Council Squatter Unit chief Salim Silin stressed on the need to have more laws that deal with squatters.
“There should also be Immigration and Customs Department offices in Kunak so that regular operations against the illegal immigrants can be carried out,” he opined.
Salim told the panel that about 40 per cent of the population in Kunak were immigrants and his unit had identified seven areas with squatters.
“We have planned demolition exercises but are unable to carry out some of the plans because we are hampered by the locality and accessibility of these squatter colonies. We also face threats from the squatters,” he said.
He told the panel that the unit’s enforcement personnel had been threatened with knives and were also ‘stalked’ by some of the squatters.
“Some of the villages are accessed by dilapidated bridges and small pathways, so we cannot use them. There are also threats to our safety, to the extent that we are afraid to enter,” he said.
He also pointed out that social ills in the squatter areas included drug peddling, cigarette smuggling, snatch thefts and illegal connection of water and electricity supply.
“There are plans to relocate the local squatters to 400-unit PPRT flats at Kampung Kadazan but have yet to be carried out,” he said.