Huge amount of waste being thrown onto the ground at an informal settlement.
MOST of the houses are in dilapidated condition.
Many of the wooden plank walks are broken with some rotting away, making them dangerous, especially to young children.
Management of the surroundings is totally lacking.
The compounds are generally overgrown with tall grass — with creepers climbing up some of the walls.
Such atrocious conditions are made for dangerous animals and insects to breed.
Stinking sewerage and drainage emit a nauseous stench and the polluted stagnant storm water serves as breeding grounds for dengue or malaria-spreading mosquitoes.
Most of the amenities are not on the list of solid waste management activities schedule because these are illegal settlements – waste such as plastic bags, plastic bottles and tin cans are strewn all over — along the pathways and under the houses.
The settlers also have to make do with makeshift toilets and washing or bathrooms. Although they are squatting illegally on unoccupied private or state land, the authorities still provide treated tape water for them to share in the interest of public health.
A water meter may be shared among several families who take turns to fetch their daily water supply. A time table is drawn up and the bill shared accordingly.
Each family appoints a leader to collect payment and draft the water-fetching schedule.
Water is obtained between one hour and two hours and collected in containers for washing and cooking.
Living on illegal sites
At night, most rely either on kerosene lamps, candles and battery-powered lightings. A few use generators although this is very costly. On average, some RM600 is spent on petrol alone every month.
Electricity cannot be connected to the families as they are living on illegal sites.
At one of the settlements we visited, chickens and ducks are reared under the houses on very low stilts and bad odour pervaded the surroundings.
This settlement also lacks proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity, hygienic pathways and other basic human necessities.
Whatever you may call them — shanty town, squatter colony, slum area, informal or spontaneous settlement – they are all held together with plywood, corrugated metal, plastic sheets and cardboard boxes.
Chicken reared in unsanitary condition under a squatter home.
Slums in Kuching
Squatter colonies or slum areas still exist in some parts of Kuching.
So far, no official census has been conducted on slum settlers. According to government estimation, there are 1,000 squatters in Kuching, 4,000 in Miri and 3,000 in Bintulu although the number could be lower — or higher.
Political secretary to the Chief Minister Datuk Paul Igai said squatter colonies in Kuching could be found at the old Kampung Kudei, Sungai Apong, Jalan Chawan, Kampung Stakan and Batu Kawah.
He said based on his personal encounters and interviews with the squatters over the past several months, job opportunities were the main reason they migrated to Kuching.
“They came from rural areas to look for jobs and having no place to stay, they started squatting on empty land.
“As time went by, their families became ‘trapped’ in the colonies, especially when their children started schooling in the city.”
Igai has been compiling data on some of the squatter colonies for his report to be submitted to the Chief Minister.
He is doing this on his own initiative in the hope that it could be incorporated into the Chief Minister’s plan to transform the rural areas.
Igai said many of the squatters had been living in the slums for decades — with some families even having children in local colleges and universities at present.
“This shows children in slum areas can also excel in education.”
He pointed out that for some of them, it was not their choice to live in slums.
“They came out here looking for greener pastures but could not land a good-paying job because they did not have the academic qualifications. So they ended up as squatters.”
Darkness no hinderance
He also said “darkness” was not a hindrance to some of the informal settlement children in pursuing higher education.
“I have seen with my own eyes some students living in slum at Chawan Road doing homework and revision under candle light.”
Igai said most of the squatters in Kuching whom he had visited came from rural areas in Sri Aman, Simunjan and Pantu.
The squatters migrated to the city after learning labour-intensive industries in the state capital needed human power to run their daily operations.
Although he is not sure where these squatters actually work, Igai believes most are employed in the construction, manufacturing and shipping sectors, restaurants and supermarkets, depending on their skills.
Squatters in Kuching may be classified into two groups — forced squatters and voluntary squatters.
“For example, at Chawan Road, some of the squatters already own houses on their own land but still built another house at the colony.
“One reason for this is that the squatter area is near the school where their children are studying. This type of squatters may be classified as voluntary squatters,” he explained.
Forced squatters, on the other hand, are those trapped by low wages due to lack of education and having to pay for children’s schooling.
“With the sort of salary they earn — which may be less than RM800 — they can’t even return to their kampung in Sri Aman or Simunjan but have to stay put in the slums,” Igai said.
“There are also cases where parents find urban schools too good (expensive) for their children.”
He noted that the population was declining in some squatter colonies while increasing in others.
The decline occurs when some of the squatters can afford to rent a nearby house or the nearest flat.
Some who have found permanent homes rent out their old squatter homes to new arrivals or families seeking temporary shelter with their squatter parents or relatives.
“This has led to either the same and higher number of families in a particular slum area,” Igai said.
The plankwalk flanked by lush cover crop at one of the informal settlements.
A big dilemma
He pointed out that the squatter situation posed a big dilemma to the authorities — chasing them out is politically sensitive and providing for them can never be enough.
He said political opportunists may use the issue to demonise the government of the day.
He also said while providing food assistance to the needy was a noble act, it was not the solution to their hardships in the long run, adding that constant provision of relief was not an effective way to lift the squatters out of poverty.
Igai believes the real answer lies in equipping them with the necessary skills or academic qualifications to earn a higher wage.
“If welfare organisations really want to help these people, especially the younger ones, they should consider paying for their tuition or higher education fees.
“Only with the necessary skills and qualifications will they be able to earn a higher pay and get out of the slums.”
Igai said since most squatters were from the rural areas, it was heartening to note that Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem had accorded rural development the highest priority.
The strategy is multi-pronged — increasing the economic activities and creating jobs in the rural areas on the one hand while helping the state achieve its objective of zero squatters by 2020 on the other.
“There is an urgency to develop the rural areas to resolve the squatter problem. It will take proper planning and prompt action as time is not on our side,” he noted.
While some say slums don’t make a city beautiful, the issue of squatting is both complex and sensitive, ultimately requiring a comprehensive study and a great deal of political will to address and overcome.
A descriptive or data-compilation study will not solve the problem. The root cause should be identified and acted upon otherwise, the “informal settlement” will remain.
Having seen their living conditions, I can empathise with the plight of the squatters, especially the innocent little children who are exposed to all sort of dangers in living squalor.
Obviously, the act of encroaching on private or state land, and building a house on it, is illegal but what choice do these people have?
The plain truth is that for the middle or even upper middle class, buying and owning a house nowadays in the face of spiralling prizes is beyond most of them.
The toilet system at a squatter area.