KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Fisheries Department is presently facing a deadlock in its development plans due to illegal occupation of its land by squatters in Sepanggar near here.
Deputy Chief minister Datuk Yahya Hussin said about 70 units of modern and traditional houses had been illegally built on 28 ha (70 acres) that had been earmarked in the Eighth Malaysia Plan for the construction of a fisheries training complex (40 acres or 16 ha) and an integrated fisheries commodity promotion centre (30 acres or 12 ha).
“Three hundred and eighty acres (154 ha) were gazetted for the department in 1973. A section of the land is believed to have been illegally occupied since 2001.
“We note that the construction of the houses had not been approved by the Land and Survey department. We have issued warnings to the squatters and lodged police reports, which were ignored,” he told reporters after making a surprise visit to the area yesterday.
Yahya who is also state Agriculture and Food Industry minister said an investigation would be carried out, while the department had identified the culprit responsible for issuing fake land ownership certificates to the squatters.