Johor government working on relocating Kampung Hajah Hasnah squatters

JOHOR BAHRU - The Johor state government is working on relocating 165 squatter families in Kampung Hajah Hasnah after they were served with eviction notices informing them their houses will be demolished.

State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said all 165 families have been identified as eligible for the offer to relocate.

"Some of them are only tenants, not the original residents of Kg Hajah Hasnah. However, the state government is working on resolving this problem so that no Johorean is left behind without a roof over their head,” he said in a statement here today.

He said the 165 families were part of the 253 families who initially received the notice, of which 54 families already own units in the Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway (EDL) flats here, while 34 families own properties elsewhere, and are permanent residents or foreigners.

Another 22 dilapidated or vacated houses were demolished on Monday, he said.

Mohd Jafni said Kampung Hajah Hasnah, which is in Plentong, is one of the squatter areas in the state and In 2008 the original residents of the village were offered 2,720 units at the EDL flats.

"All the original villagers have moved to the EDL flats, but because the squatter houses were not demolished some of them had rented it out or let family members occupy them,” he said.

"This village is situated on reserve land that is only 50 metres away from the river bank. There are frequent floods which makes life hard. They also do not have proper sewage and other sanitary facilities,” he said.

He said this integrated enforcement involving various other agencies including the District Land Office and police is being carried out in stages.

It was reported on Tuesday that about 100 families in the village were caught stranded after being asked to vacate their houses in the near future to make way for development in the area. - Bernama