KUCHING, April 15: The public have been advised not to fall for the sweet promises of certain individuals to own land along Jalan Pehin Sri Adenan in Matang.
In a statement today, the Land and Survey Department’s Public Relations Unit said doing so would lead them into trouble and, even worse, face criminal prosecution.
“The government is not responsible for any loss of investment made by them associated with this unauthorised and illegal transaction,” it said.
According to the department, during routine surveillance, they detected vast areas along the road being cleared and occupied illegally by a group of people, and some of them were planting crops on the land as if the land were theirs.
It said they were informed that one ring leader of a group had been identified as a suspect in organising illegal transactions purportedly promising that the land could be owned through processes organised and coordinated by this group.
“Series of viral images of these groups in the act of registering the name and unauthorisedly collecting a deposit from members of the public had been widely circulated.
“Hence the department would like to warn this group to stop their activities before action immediately is taken under the Sarawak Land Code and other provisions in the Penal Code pertaining to illegally collecting deposits and the probability of deceiving and cheating,” it added.
The department emphasised that they are taking this matter seriously and will commence with enforcement action under the Sarawak Land Code, which, among others, is to demolish the illegal structure on the ground and evict the illegal occupation on the land as well as proceed with legal proceedings in the courts of law.
It said members of the public are also advised to submit an official application to the Land and Survey Department if they require a residential lot.
“This is because the government, through the Land and Survey Department, provides lots for residential purposes through the Skim Penempatan Semula (SPS) and the Skim Pembesaran Kampung (SPK).
“The Sarawak government will continue to plan and implement the development of SPS and SPK to accommodate the needs of the residential lots by the target group for the schemes,” it said. — DayakDaily
