Sabah Umno urges housing board to discuss evictions with Tg Aru flat residents

Putatan Umno division chief Jeffrey Nor Mohamed (6th from left) with Tanjung Aru low cost flats residents in Kota Kinabalu.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Housing and Urban Development Board (LPPB) should not act like "ah long" in trying to force tenants to vacate the Tanjung Aru Flats, says a state Umno leader.

Putatan Umno chief Jeffrey Nor Mohamed said the LPPB was issuing notices without holding any discussions with the residents on the reasons for them to vacate the premises.

"The LPPB is acting like 'ah long'. They are not making any efforts to talk to the residents. They issue notices without any discussions," he said in a statement here Thursday (June 26).

"They should hold a meeting with the residents or representatives of the residents to explain the true position on why they need to vacate the flats," he added after meeting with the affected residents who are mainly from the low-income B40 group.

He said that the general reason was that the 11 blocks of flats built in the 1970s housing some 300 families are allegedly unsafe for people to continue living in.

Jeffrey said that there should be a proper explanation given LPPB and such discussion should include engineering firm Ikram which conducted an assessment of the buildings.

"With a specific meeting and explanation, the residents will better understand the real issue as to why they need to move out," he said amid the simmering standoff between residents and the LPPB following eviction notices issued since May 2021.

Jeffrey said that many tenants have yet to receive notifications of alternative accommodation to move to.

"The LPPB must provide alternative accommodation for the residents who have been ordered to move," he said, adding that most of those affected were from the low income group who could not afford to buy new houses or pay for higher house rentals.

Jeffrey said that LPPB's earlier statements that it did not have sufficient funds to repair the building was a poor excuse as it reflected the agency's inefficiency in managing the financial resources obtained from the rentals.

Jeffrey said that the Chief Minister should intervene and resolve this long-standing issue by helping the tenants.

Earlier this year, LPPB chairman Datuk Masiung Banah had reiterated that the residents had to vacate the flats but did not indicate the future plans for the Tanjung Aru flats that sit on prime land close to the beach.