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MIRI, June 23: Kampung Usaha Jaya Tukau residents were allegedly evicted without compensation and warned to leave immediately or the developer would take action.
Sarawak Parti Se-Islam Malaysia (PAS) commissioner Jofri Jaraiee said the villagers have lived in the area since 1978 and claimed that there is evidence of correspondence with the Land and Survey Department since 1980.
“From 1980 until 2023, the government has approved the installation of electricity, bitumen roads, a 6″ water pipe installation system up to the hall/surau area, an annual assistance grant of RM3,000 to RM5,000 for Village Development and Security Committee Members (AJKKK) and so on.
“After a long time, Lot 187/188 grants were suddenly issued to developers with an estimated area of 1,200 acres, including Kampung Usaha Jaya Tukau in 2009.
“With the granting of this land grant to the developer, the villagers became the party that occupied the land illegally, and the first summons issued to evict all the villagers without trial was in 2016,” he said in a statement today.
He further urged the Sarawak government to implement the Resettlement Scheme (SPS) and Village Expansion Scheme (SPK) for the village to protect the residents from losing their homes.
He also claimed that the villagers had applied dozens of times for land grants for their houses and farms, but instead, the companies and corporate developers or development properties had easily owned their land.
“They (residents) were also promised that they would be given a new settlement if the developer took the existing land, but until now, there is still no solution regarding the plight of those who had to leave their homes,” he added.
In addition, Jofri said most of the villagers of Kampung Usaha Jaya Tukau are farmers and fishermen, and he alleged that some of their crops have already been destroyed by the developer and their houses would soon be demolished.
“Without land to live on and work on, they cannot continue their daily lives, especially now that the cost of living is increasing,” he elaborated. — DayakDaily
