Issue Of Demolished House Involving Tanduo Tragedy Widow Exploited, Manipulated - Sabah Police

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The alleged eviction of the widow of a heroic police officer killed in the Tanduo Tragedy has been exploited by certain parties to undermine the ongoing demolition operation of an illegal immigrant squatter colony in Semporna.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun said the house in question actually belonged to the widow’s father and was not inhabited by herself, but by other members of her family.

He also explained that there was no plan to demolish that particular house because the operation only targeted illegal immigrant houses to clean up the area.

“We found this issue to be untrue, the widow does not live in the house in question … this person (the widow) lives on the mainland and has her own house. The authorities have also never issued any threats against the individual in question.

“Houses belonging to Malaysian citizens identified during this operation will not be demolished, a total of 3,257 houses have been demolished in this squatter colony operation to date, and not a single one belonged to a Malaysian citizen,” he said here today.

Yesterday, a news portal reported that Sitti Bandorah Mahalil, widow of Sergeant Abd Azis Sarikon who was killed in the Tanduo Tragedy in 2013, claimed that their house in Kampung Alab, a water village on Pulau Bodgaya, Semporna, was nestled in the area targeted for demolition.

Jauteh said officers from the Semporna district police headquarters had met with the family to find out the real situation and the woman stated that there may have been a slight misunderstanding when the explanation was given about the house located in the Sabah Parks area.

“They (the family) have been living there since the 1980s, that’s why we did not continue this operation (in the area),” he said, adding that the government had always looked after the widow's welfare to this day.

He said police were delving into the issue and did not rule out the possibility of taking action against those who were exploiting and manipulating the issue of the demolition of the illegal squatter colony for undocumented migrants.

He said that until now, there had only been one police report received involving the demolition of the squatter colony.

Meanwhile, Sitti Bandorah, when contacted by Bernama in Semporna later today, said she would file a police report to defend the heritage house that her father built in Kampung Alab, Pulau Bodgaya in the 1970s and also cultivated several acres on the island with mango, longan and coconut trees.

“Sabah Parks issued a notice to vacate in May this year and in June, four of my brother's family's houses, one of my sister's houses built on water on the island were demolished by enforcement and they had to move to Semporna town.

"Last Monday (Dec 16), I went to the heritage house … on Tuesday there was a demolition of 10 neighbouring houses and fruit crops were cut down...," she said.

Sitti Bandorah claimed that in 2004 when Sabah Parks ‘entered the scene’, residents were promised that the village would become customary land as it was developed with crops, wells and even a burial ground.

“The villagers obeyed the law when the area was gazetted,” she said, adding that her grandmother was also buried on the island in 1981.

-- BERNAMA