Villagers against alleged land grab
PENAMPANG: Residents of Kampung Ramayah have cried foul over the alleged approval of land where their ancestral burial ground, the Dewan Raya and Tadika Kemas are located to a cooperative.
According to Kampung Ramayah village chief Jeffrey Linjungan, the matter was discovered on March 17, when a survey team from the Lands and Survey Department came to do their job.
Speaking to reporters after a peaceful demonstration protesting against the alleged ‘land grab’, Jeffrey said concerned citizens and villagers of Kampung Ramayah as well as surrounding villages are appealing to the state Government to not allow the the cooperative take over the land.
“We have proof that this land of almost two hectares which is also the location of an old burial ground, Tadika Kemas and the Dewan Raya has been applied by the cooperative and the approval was granted by the previous state government.
“Before the land title is issued or approved by the authorities, we appeal to the present state Government under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor to hear our plea and cancel the approval,” said Jeffrey.
Jeffrey disclosed that he found out the approval was granted in 2018 and that none of the 400 odd villagers of Kampung Ramayah were consulted on the matter.
He said that after meeting the Lands and Survey team on March 17, he wrote in to the department for a clarification and added that he had also written in to the Chief Minister pleading their case.
“The land behind this Dewan Raya is an ancestral burial ground which was established before 1950. Those here this morning have their ancestors and relatives buried here.
“If this land is given to the cooperative, we do not know what they will do with it. Will they maintain the burial ground, dewan and Tadika? If no where will the villagers hold their communitybased activities like meetings, Kaamatan celebration and MPKK meetings?” he lamented.
Jeffrey added that the Dewan which was built in the mid 1980s was also used as a polling centre during elections.
He is worried that the cooperative, if allowed to own the land, may not want it to be used for all those activities thus leaving the villagers no choice but to look for alternative venues.
Jeffrey added that his greatest worry was if the cooperative decide to develop and sell the land in the future.
“I hope the present government under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji will not be persuaded by those involved in this land matter to give approval to the cooperative to grab village land for their own selfish purpose,” he said.