Highway leads to land disputes

Construction of Pan Borneo Highway causing sleepless nights for many

SIBU: Construction of the Pan Borneo Highway is causing ‘bitter land disputes’ as events are unfolding on the ground.

One of the sub-contractors for the project here is having sleepless nights as he may not be able to complete his work on time due to the never-ending land dispute.

The contractor, who only wanted to be known as Lim, said he was tasked for the construction of a 2-km stretch from KM597.6 to KM599.6 of Batang Buluh-Batang Balingian Road.

He said the six-month construction works, which began last December, was caught in a land dispute during the initial stage of the works.

He said the first land dispute caused two of his excavators to be set on fire.

“On April 22, I found six laminated notices hanging along the 300-metre stretch of the project saying ‘Pihak Kontraktor Dilarang Menceroboh, hubungi Sylvester Igak’ (The contractor is prohibited from trespassing, contact Sylvester Igak).

Sylvester claimed the Pan-Borneo Highway project was passing through his land.

“In December last year, two of my excavators were burned due to this land-related issue. That incident alone has already caused delay to the project.

“Now, the latest incident is causing further delay. Sylvester has even made a police report against me for trespassing,” Lim said.

According to Lim, he had checked with the Land and Survey Department which showed that Sylvester was not in the land acquisition and compensation list.

“The land he claimed is actually a government road reserve,” he said, adding he had lodged a police report against Sylvester.

The situation is no better in Sarikei as a resident of Mile 5 1/2, Jalan KJD in Bintangor, lodged a police report on Tuesday afternoon after enforcement officers dismantled the concrete and steel fencing and garage in front of his house earlier in the morning.

Paran Jambai, 58, said enforcement officers from various agencies here were very inconsiderate and simply ignored his appeal not to touch his property as he, together with five other siblings, had not given their consent for their family land to be used for the Pan Borneo Highway project.

Paran said that through a letter dated Feb 2, 2016, he and his siblings had expressed their disagreement over the use of their land for the Pan Borneo Highway project, hence had declined to receive any compensation yet.

Among reasons why they refused the compensation was after they found that the highway would pass through the concrete and steel fencing and garage of his house, Paran said.

Besides, the distance between his house and the highway would be just 10 feet, thus exposing it (house) to the danger of landslide and other dangers, he added.

The family has suggested that the highway route be shifted further away from their land as there were unoccupied land available just beside theirs, Paran said.

He added they were not satisfied with the compensation of just RM1,578.84 for the about 451.1 square metres of their land affected by the highway project, meaning that each of them would only receive RM263.14.

Apart from the RM263.14 each, Paran said he was only offered RM14,707 as compensation for the affected part of his house fencing and garage.  If the acquisition of their land was unavoidable, the authorities should consider their request for a review of the compensation amount, added Paran.