Andrew
KOTA KINABALU: Koperasi Kituau Ramayah Berhad has denied the claim by Kampung Ramayah village chief Jeffery Linjungan that the alleged approval of land where their ancestral burial ground, the Dewan Raya and Tadika Kemas are located to a cooperative, was a “land grab”.
Its secretary, Andrew Bitoh John, said Sharikat Kerjasama Kituau/Ramayah Berhad or Kituau/Ramayah Cooperative Society Limited was registered under Registration No. 198/69 on 2 June 1969 under the then Jabatan Kemajuan Kerjasama, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
It was renamed Koperasi Kituau Ramayah Berhad on 30 January 2009 under Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia in accordance with Akta Koperasi 1993.
“Since the inception of our cooperative its business activities were conducted on a 7,405 sq ft piece of land at Mile 8.5 Jalan Penampang/Papar Lama (now Pan Borneo Highway) which was donated by Orang Tua Walter Molijoh,” he said.
In a statement on Sunday, Andrew pointed out that the size of the land has been affected by the construction of the highway and after an Annual General Meeting in 2014 it was unanimously agreed by the members that an avenue to facilitate the development of the 52-year-old Community Koperasi has to be found.
“The land adjacent to that of the cooperative houses a burial ground, Dewan Raya and Tadika was identified as a possible future expansion. A series of meetings with the residents of Kg Ramayah and the Ketua Kampung were carried out before an inquiry was made with the District Officer of Penampang on 12 September 2014.
The residents of Kg Ramayah and Ketua Kampung understood the intention of their cooperative and did not have any objection. The cooperative complied with the requirements and procedures of the government departments concerned whilst Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia Negeri Sabah gave its support,” he said.
After having complied with the requirements and procedures of the government departments concerned, he sais Koperasi Kituau Ramayah Berhad had vehemently denied the allegation by Jeffery that it was a “land grab”.
Residents of Kampung Ramayah recently cried foul over the alleged approval of land where their ancestral burial ground, the Dewan Raya and Tadika Kemas are located to a cooperative.
According to Jeffrey, the matter was discovered on March 17, when a survey team from the Lands and Survey Department came to do their job.