Relocation inevitable for ‘unsafe’ village – Bung
KOTA KINABALU: Kampung Pengkalan Bukit Garam is no longer safe to live in, according to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar for Radin.
The Kinabatangan Member of Parliament said that not only is the area not suitable for habitation, its level of hygiene is also very worrying.
Bung said the Kinabatangan District Council and Security Committee have decided that the village is unsafe and the villagers should move out.
“There is no system; the village was built without proper planning and there is no infrastructure,” said Bung who visited the village to distribute food baskets to flood victims there.
“Furthermore, its location near Kinabatangan River exposes it to flooding every time it rains heaviliy,” lamented the Lamag assemblyman.
He said the government has prepared a new site for the villagers to relocate to but some of them refused to move, resulting in them facing danger every time it floods.
“These people must be made to see and understand how risky their situation is,” he said, adding that he will be visiting Kampung Pengkalan Bukit Garam again to try and convince the remaining villagers to relocate.
Seven of the 69 families in Kampung Pengkalan Bukit Garam were evacuated after floodwaters reached the ceiling of their houses.
Lamag Community Development Leader Abu Bakar Gapar said other villages that were flooded were Kampung Danau Ria, Kampung Muhibah,Sri Manis and Kampung Nusa Jaya.
In Muka Buang Sayang, Kampung Buang Sayang, Sungai Lokan and Kampung were also flooded while in Kota Kinabatangan, Kampung Kembara Jaya and Kampung Pelangi were inundated.
He disclosed that a total of 220 families were affected.