By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, August 14: Villagers from Kampung Tambirat in Asajaya are alleging that a private company had encroached onto their land, and they want the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the matter.
Speaking to reporters after lodging a report at MACC headquarters here today, Kuching-Samarahan Native Rights (NCR) Defendants chairman Ahmad Awang Ali, who claims to represents the community of about 1,500 villagers, said despite the 408-acre land being caveated since 2010, the said company trespassed onto the land two weeks ago.
“Today, we are here because we are in a desperate situation. This is actually an old case. Since 2010, we’ve gone through the court, and we’ve won not once but four times on the land ownership status. We want MACC to investigate if there is an element of corruption involved,” Ahmad said.
Together with him at MACC were Samsudin Junit and Wahab Nong, who are also landowners.
Ahmad also claimed that the villagers had lodged no less than 10 police reports over the incident. However, nothing appeared to have happened and no action seemed to have been taken by the authorities.
“The MACC officer advised us to lodge another police report, but this time with PDRM’s Integrity and Compliance Department.
Ahmad claimed the disputed land had been occupied by the Malay villagers for up to three generations and, thus, it was clearly theirs.
“We’ve won the court case, and therefore, the company should not enter our land and destroy our crops. However, their representatives came, claiming that they have the approval from ‘higher authorities’ and threatened us not to stop them,” he said.
In addition, Ahmad said the company should have approached them in a civilised manner. — DayakDaily
