Eviction order bid against Pitas villagers dismissed

KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here dismissed an application by Sabah Forest Development Authority (Safoda) and its joint-venture firm Acacia Forest Industries Sdn Bhd to evict villagers from their lands in Pitas.

In dismissing the application, Justice Datuk Douglas Primus held that a summary procedure was not the appropriate approach in seeking the court’s nod for the villagers to be evicted.

Apart from that, the court also held that there were triable issues to be resolved in the trial and that the case was not plain and obvious.

In their application, Safoda and Acacia Forest Industries Sdn Bhd were seeking an eviction order claiming the villagers have trespassed on its Bengkoka plantation land.

Both the plaintiffs had on May 23 filed the summary procedure application naming David Mahadus, 58, Orijos Lahhi, 29, and Dasay Lahhi, 53, as first, second and third defendants as well as all alleged trespassers of the said land.

In the proceedings, the judge also allowed three more people representing villagers of the 16 affected villages to be added as defendants.

The plaintiffs were represented by counsel Lindsay Michael and Elffie Johnny while the three defendants were represented by counsel Sugumar Balakrishnan and Datuk Jelani Hamdan.

The three representatives from the villages, who were represented by counsel Datuk Kong Hong Ming, were acting for themselves and on behalf of the proprietor, occupiers, holders, inheritors and claimants of native customary and ancestral lands in 16 villages.

They were representing on behalf of villagers of Kg Gumpa, Kg Jambu, Kg Kandang, Kg Kodong, Kg Liu Darat, Kg Liu Tamu, Kg Kapok, Kg Kipahung, Kg Dalas, Kg Mangkobou Darat, Kg Mantaya, Kg Maringgan, Kg Suang Duyang, Kg Ungkup, Kg Bongkol and Kg Mangkapon Lumikog in the Bengkoka.