DEMANDS from Sembulan Tengah villagers to vacate the area will be presented to the Sabah cabinet.
This follows a recent dialogue between the villagers and the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK).
The villagers had earlier opposed their scheduled eviction during a dialogue with DBKK on September 22 to make way for the Sembulan Urban Renewal Scheme.
Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Sabin Samitah said the residents were agreeable to moving as long as their request for a “fairer” compensation was decided by the Sabah cabinet.
Sabin said DBKK will present their proposals to the state cabinet.
“For now, they agree with DBKK’s plan to remove illegal structures, as many squatter houses have since been built. We will continue to remove these illegal structures,” Sabin said after the second dialogue between DBKK and the residents.
The Sembulan Tengah residents received their eviction notices on September 19.
Sabin also said DBKK would collaborate with other agencies to investigate tenancy issues, as some homes found in the area may have been rented out illegally, including to undocumented migrants.
“We want to understand how these rental arrangements came about, as some property owners claim they no longer live in the area and didn’t know their homes were being rented out,” he said.
Sembulan Tengah, originally established in 1960 as part of the British Crown Colony’s Jesselton Town Board Low-Cost Housing Scheme, saw active settlement between 1959 and 1977.
Town leases typically lasted 60 years, with most expiring after 2010. Some settlers extended their occupation through Temporary Occupation Licences (TOL).
A revised plan to redevelop the area for the Sembulan Urban Renewal Scheme was approved by the Sabah government in May this year.
Villagers have requested better compensation for their lots, including those with expired town leases and TOLs.
At present 104 lots are expired while 67 are still active, according to DBKK records.
“Their requests will be presented to the cabinet for consideration, and we hope a decision will be made before the end of the year,” Sabin said. - October 9, 2024
