KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s retired border scouts now face eviction and threats to cut their water supply after the authorities paid them a visit several days ago.
Mailam Tumubul, a 78-year-old former border scout, told The Vibes that a police officer had approached them twice – two weeks ago and about three days prior – while local authorities threatened to cut the water supply to the settlement.
In the 1990s, Mailam and the other former scouts and their families – some 300 people – settled into the officers’ quarters at Camp PPH, a 1.8ha plot of land near Keningau town, approximately 109km from here.
The state has assigned the land to the police force – and more recently, it is learnt that the General Operations Force plans to station a battalion at the camp.
“The officer visited us at the camp about three weeks ago and wanted to have a dialogue with all retired border scouts. We had a dialogue and we raised our problems with them.
“The officer told us he will bring the matter to the higher-ups. Three days ago, we received verbal instructions from an officer in the (Sabah) Water Department who came by the camp, informing us that they will cut off our water supply.
“The officer told me that the camp must be emptied,” said Mailam, adding that there had been no written instructions – just verbal directives from the two public officers.
Sabah Border Scouts is a paramilitary unit that assisted in stopping the incursion of the Indonesia National Army during confrontations in the mid-1960s.
They were later stationed at border entry posts to stop illegal entry by foreigners.
Mailam, a retired sergeant, and the rest of the scouts were later absorbed into the police force and reported directly to the state police commissioner.
He said they have no intention of going against the authorities.
However, he said it is better if the government gives them the land – or perhaps provide them with a new piece of land to settle in.
This is not the first time that Mailam and the other scouts face eviction.
In 2014, they submitted a memorandum to then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to assist them after police planned to build housing quarters for their officers.
The eviction issue was put on the back burner until more recently, said Mailam.
He also expressed hopes that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili will look into their plight. – The Vibes, November 5, 2021
This is the third part of The Vibes’ coverage on the plight of the Sabah Border Scouts. Part one of The Plight of the Sabah Border Scouts can be found here, while part two can be found here
