10 more squatter settlements to be gazetted as villages

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KOTA KINABALU: Ten more squatter settlements in Sepanggar constituency will be gazetted as villages.
It was announced yesterday by Caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who said the areas are in addition to five others gazetted in the city area between 2019-2020, namely Kampung Rampayan Laut (13.75 hectares), Kampung Kokol (38.574 hectares), Kampung Rakyat Baru (5.29 hectares), Kampung Bahagia (3.722 hectares) and Kampung Selamat 3.410 hectares).

The 10 new areas that will be gazetted as villages are Suang Parai, Penempatan Numbak, Delima, Bukit Numbak, Unggun Jaya, Keliangau, Kg. Gantong Puluta and several others are from the land under the Department of Fisheries, which was previously known as Melayu Brunei, Juara and Warisan colonies.

The land that will be taken from the Department of Fisheries will be replaced with other land, which will be identified soon.

Once the villages are gazetted, Shafie said infrastructure such as electricity and water can come in to avoid illegal connections, while revenue can be collected as well.

He said it is important to have proper development in Sepanggar area, as the constituency is currently facing development which will be crowded in the future.

“We must look as organised development. We cannot place everything in one area. Just look at what is happening at the moment. Traffic jam everywhere because everything is here.

“It is still okey in the next 10 years, but how about 20 to 30 years from now? We need to develop other areas too. We must look at long term.

“That is why I mentioned before about having another port in Kudat, developing train transportation from Tenom to Kudat, and many more… we want to develop the downstream… but this cannot be done in short period of time,” he said.