Pan Borneo Highway construction: Affected land owners urged to claim compensation cheques

Land owners whose properties had been affected due to the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway for the alignment between the Sebangkoi National Park and Jalan Julau Intersection, have been urged to claim their compensation cheques the soonest possible.

Meradong state assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing said over 70 owners from the districts of Sarikei and Meradong, whose properties were affected by the project, had yet to claim the cheques from the Sarikei Division of the Sarawak Land and Survey Department.

He said failure to do so might result in the compensation money to be handed to the court and the owners would face difficulties in claiming the money back, if that were to happen.

"Among the reasons of the unclaimed cheques were that some land owners were not happy with the amount of compensation given by the government and incomplete address which made it difficult to contact," he told Bernama here.

During a briefing session on the latest development of the highway project, Sarikei Division of the Sarawak Land and Survey Department superintendent Ngu Tai Kwong said the total unclaimed amount was RM55 million.

Ding also advised the unhappy owners to accept the compensation first and appeal at the same time.

Efforts to locate the owners were conducted with help from the community and tribal leaders in the district, as well as via the media, he added.

-- BERNAMA