Eviction of 53 families in Beaufort village goes viral

A TOTAL of 53 families in Kg Jimpangah, Beaufort are being evicted from the private land they had been staying on for decades.

Videos showing their homes being demolished amid an escalating land dispute have triggered public outrage, especially after a clip captured a house being torn down while people were still inside.

Kampung Jimpangah is located approximately 98 kilometres to the south of Kota Kinabalu. 

The footage, widely shared on social media today, showed villagers screaming for help and pleading with an excavator operator to stop the demolition.

In the background, people can be heard shouting for their elected representative, Isnin Aliasnih, to intervene.

It is understood that the landowner had obtained a court order to remove the squatters. 

But the manner the eviction was carried out has sparked widespread criticism.

Warisan vice president Terrence Siambun criticised the operation, describing it as “inhumane and cruel”, regardless of its legal justification.

“This act of eviction is inhumane and cruel even if it is carried out legally,” he said. “Where is the compassion? Where is the leadership?”

According to Siambun, the eviction affects a community of about 300 people who claim their families have lived on the 13-acre plot for nearly 70 years. 

The villagers allege that the land, long considered their ancestral home, was sold to a private company several years ago. This had set off the dispute.

“What we are seeing is destruction and betrayal.”

“The GRS government often says ‘Rumah Kita, Kita Jaga,’ but that slogan now feels like an empty promise used only to win votes,” he said in a statement. 

He called on the state government to take immediate responsibility and halt any further demolitions.

“It is not too late to make things right. The GRS government must take full responsibility for this inhumane act against our native villagers,” he said.

Siambun said the scenes captured in the videos should never happen in a civil society, regardless of legal ownership.

“This should not and cannot happen no matter what the legal justification is. The people of Sabah deserve better,” he said. 

It is learnt that the eviction has been halted, and the landowner gave the villagers until May 25 to move out. - May 21, 2025