Fadil (centre) calming the affected residents when the situation became tense.
A man being calmed down by the police.
TAWAU: The Tawau Municipal Council (TMC) postponed the operation to demolish about 30 illegal structures at the Old Air Port area following objections and obstruction from the residents there yesterday.
A tense and volatile situation erupted when the TMC enforcement team began the operation with some of the residents attempting to prevent the bulldozers from demolishing the rebuilt structures.
The protesting residents claimed that they did not receive any notice from TMC and their plight was ignored by representatives for their area.
TMC president Alijus Sipil, when contacted, said that the residents had been given several notices not to rebuild their houses that were destroyed by a fire on Jan 29 while they were also offered houses at the People’s Housing Project (PPR) in Semarak.
He said the demolition of homes in the area would be carried out after meeting with the other departments involved to find the best solution.
According to Alijus, TMC does not need to get a court order to demolish the illegal houses and squatters in the district because it has special powers to dismantle illegal housing.
Last Friday, when announcing the demolition operation, Alijus said the presence of squatters was not appropriate in the area as the Muhibbah Public Park is nearby and the council planned to expand the park for the public.
The tense situation yesterday morning that started before 9am, was handled in a calm and cool manner by Tawau police chief ACP Fadil Marsus, who advised the residents to use a proper platform such as the people’s representatives and members of parliament to discuss their plight with TMC.
He advised the residents not to cause any trouble and allow the respective agencies to carry out their task.
In getting the operation temporarily stopped, Fadil told the residents that they should no longer build new structures there.