FAMILIES in Kampung Jimpangah, Beaufort, spent Sunday clearing out what was left of their homes — salvaging timber, loading furniture into trucks, and hoping, for a last-minute miracle to help them.
Many still hold out hope for a positive change — but there is also quiet frustration that the government has not stepped in to resolve their plight.
Demolition teams on site have already indicated that the village would be barricaded.
The landowner had obtained a court order to evict 34 of the 53 households on May 21 but after discussions between villagers and the demolition workers a brief four-day extension was granted.
That grace period expired yesterday.
For the 34 households told to leave, the deadline marked the end of years — for some, decades — of life on the 12.14-acre site they had long believed would one day be formally recognised as their own.
“We haven’t given up completely. Maybe someone will step in. Maybe something will change,” said Michael Basol, 59, who has lived in the village since the early 1980s.
He and his wife spent the morning stacking the ironwood including the heavy logs that were once held their home as stilts.
The wood, he said, would be reused — if they find a place to rebuild on a new land they found nearby. Basol claimed it is also government land.
The idea might be a temporary reprieve for the couple until they can afford a house.
Others, like Edward Pengang, sold their materials to pay for the move.
Pengang earned RM1,500 by selling the ironwood stilts of his now former house where he had raised all five of his children.
It was just enough to cover the lorry rental and deposit for a rental unit nearby.
“This is the second time I’ve had to start over,” said Pengang, who moved to Kampung Jimpangah after losing land across the river in 2001.
“I packed everything. I don’t even know if the new place is permanent.”
Among the 53 households, 19 say they were told they could stay — at least for now.
Their homes remain untouched by demolition crews as they chose not to resist the landowner.
“We didn’t fight,” said one resident, who asked to be identified only as Salmah. “We didn’t challenge the landowner. We said if there’s a way for us to stay, we’re willing to pay.”
When the landowner first visited in 2023, some residents said he offered to sell the lots at RM10 per square foot. But after a few villagers asked to see proof of ownership and questioned the legality of the sale, the offer was withdrawn.
“It got tense,” said Rynnalto Peter, 38, who led the village’s committee opposing the eviction. “We asked to see the land title. He refused. Then came the court order.”
Rynnalto eventually conceded on May 21, after a brief confrontation with demolition crews.
“We had to submit. There’s nothing more we can do,” he said. He has since been helping other families pack and move out.
Still, the lines are clear. Those who pushed back are being evicted. Those who stayed quiet, for now, remain.
“There’s no black-and-white agreement,” said Salmah. “He hasn’t told us to leave, but he hasn’t said we can stay either. We’re not sleeping well. We don’t know if we’ll be next.”
But talk among the villagers now that those who did not resist the landowner would still have their houses demolished.
A portion of the private land would then be sub-divided to let them continue to stay in the area.
Kampung Jimpangah sits about 98 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu.
The land was first issued as a Country Lease on March 14, 1911, under the North Borneo Chartered Company.
It was once part of a rubber estate, later passing through a series of private and corporate owners.
In 1995, district records listed the land under Woodford Estate Beaufort. An application was filed to convert it into a native housing reserve at the time — but it never advanced.
From the 1960s to 2017, ownership changed hands through multiple memorandums of transfer.
On February 2, 2023, the land was formally transferred to the current private owner, who now pursued legal action to reclaim possession after a meeting with them went sour that year.
“Legally, it’s a private title. The owner had the right to enforce the court order,” said one land officer familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Villagers say they are disheartened that neither the local assemblyman nor the state government stepped in to mediate or delay the eviction.
“We asked for help. We wrote letters. No one came,” Rynnalto said.
The eviction has left the 34 affected households scattered — some moving in with relatives, others scrambling for temporary housing in Beaufort town.
A 16-acre land was offered earlier the day they were supposed to move out but residents rejected it after learning the land was flood-prone and lacked basic amenities.
“It’s not a solution,” one resident said. “We’re being asked to trade one hardship for another.”
Electricity into the village had already been cut off. The leader of the demolition workers who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed there would be no further extension.
“We have locked the area. No one is allowed back,” he said. – May 26, 2025
