KUCHING: It’s time to help villagers and redevelop the area, not politicise the resettlement of victims of the Kampung Datu fire, said Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Abg Johari said the issues of villagers refusing to relocate was more of a political gimmick that could have surfaced as a minor percentage of the villagers in Kampung Datu were not locals but those who rented a place there.
The possibility of some of these individuals refusing to move elsewhere might have caused the issue.
“Sometimes, we can’t rule out that there would be individuals who will take such opportunities to play around with politics. Now is not the time for politics but to help the people and redevelop the area,” Abg Johari told a press conference after chairing the association triennial general assembly (TGM) meeting yesterday.
He was responding to a question on banners put up in the village stating the refusal of certain parties to relocate to a new settlement.
Abg Johari announced on Friday that victims of the Wednesday fire would be temporarily relocated to an area at Sibu Jaya or Rantau Panjang while waiting for their new homes to be completed.
More than 600 people from over 100 families were estimated to have been affected by the fire.
In addition, plans are in place to develop the village in Kampung Bandung and the Mile 11 Malay area of Nangka to accommodate villagers from Kampung Datu and Kampung Hilir. The state has planned to build around 60 houses for the affected families.
Abg Johari who is also tourism minister pointed out that the government has planned for a re-development exercise at Bandung and Mile 11 – the project akin to the Darul Hana project at Kpg Gersik and Bintawa here. Another such project will take place in Kapit.
“The state will not let these villages lacking infrastructure remain idle. It has planned to build roads and retaining wall at the riverbank.
“The villagers were in the process of moving before the fire. Some had asked to be relocated to a more comfortable area. Considering that some of the houses were built on the bank of Batang Igan, the soil would get eroded each time an express boat passes.
“The houses shaken by this movement were hazardous to the occupants,” he explained.
Some 100 wooden houses in the villages were estimated to have been razed in the worst fire to hit the state this year.
Fanned by strong winds, the fire, believed to have started from a vacated house in Kampung Hilir, spread to Kampung Dato. A surau in the heart of the village was completely destroyed by the flames which almost reached Paramount Hotel.