Over 100 illegal houses in Kampung Titingan to be demolished

TAWAU: More than 100 houses built illegally by foreigners at Kampung Titingan, also known as Kampung Ice Box, here will be demolished in near future.

Tawau municipal council president Alijus Sipil today said the council would issue eviction notice to the home owners prior to the demolition work.

“Under the existing regulation, the municipal council has a jurisdiction to issue a seven-day notice before demolition work starts. However, in certain situation and under the request of police, the demolition work can be expedited (less than seven days).

“We want this operation to be effective and to avoid any untoward incident,” he told reporters after launching Tawau International Cultural Festival at the district municipal council compound here, today.

Yesterday, several squatters at Kampung Titingan were given notice to vacate their houses, which they built without the approval from local authority. The operation to identify and clear illegal structures was jointly conducted by the police and the district municipal council.

Meanwhile, district police chief Assistant Commissioner Fadil Marsus said the operation was not only focused in Tawau district but whole of Sabah in effort to clean the state of illegal settlements.

“In this operation, we focus on houses built on water or any structure, which did not get approval from the municipal council. These structures are usually constructed by foreigners and tend to be used as drug nests.”