Over 1,000 residents of Suncity, a suburb of Buduburam, have been left stranded after being evicted by a litigant in a land dispute, identified as SNBB.
The litigant won a court case against property owners of the area and claims ownership of the land, saying the court has given him the right to demolish all the houses to recover his land.
Personal belongings of the affected persons were thrown out of their rooms and entrances were locked with fresh padlocks provided by the litigant. Some stranded residents lamented that they were not given prior notice before they were thrown out of their rooms.
“They are not land guards but the way they did the operation is scary. You wake up early morning, and you see Police and Taskforce at your doorstep evicting you. No one has informed us about the demolition and this is not good. They initially wrote on the walls giving us a warning, but we didn't know it was that serious. People are crying over the issues,” a resident narrated.
Another resident expressed frustration, saying they were given no adequate time to relocate from the area. “We were here this morning when the task force came and told us to move from the area. We don't have anywhere to go, and I can't go to my village because there is nothing there for me. We need government intervention.”
“We are tenants here, and we have never built a house so if they tell us to move just today, it is not a good thing. If you are ejecting me in just two minutes and telling me to move my belongings out, it is not something that should be encouraged. I have a three-week-old baby and I don't know where to go. We want to appeal to the owner of the land to calm down and negotiate with us,” said another resident.
The eviction was carried out under the supervision of a police task force. The litigant declined to speak to the media about the development.