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MIRI – The population of squatters in Miri has surged to an alarming level, prompting the city’s mayor, Adam Yii, to call for more low-cost housing to accommodate them.
In the Pujut state constituency in the central part of the city, where he serves as the elected assemblyman, state authorities officially counted 690 families living in squalor.
Yii told the Sarawak assembly sitting in state capital Kuching today that his constituency has the biggest concentration of squatters.
“These squatters in the city are people coming from outside the city in search of jobs,” he said.
“Previously, the oil and gas industries fuelled the influx of these job seekers. Their population has surged and there are more squatter families now.
“The state government needs to build many more low-cost housing units in order to resolve the squatter problem,” he said.
Yii, who is with the Sarawak United People’s Party, said the need for low-cost units is pressing.
The state government had in the past allotted resettlement lots for squatters, but that had led to even more squatters, he said.
Creating resettlement schemes did not solve the problem, as the squatters do not have the money to build proper houses on the plots given to them, he stressed.
“The only practical solution is to build more low-cost units and allow the squatters to move in and pay in installments,” he said.
Miri district, with a population of 370,000, has three state constituencies – Pujut, Senadin and Piasau.
At the district level, there are over 4,000 families living in squatter colonies. – The Vibes, May 23, 2022
