Semporna District Office: Ebit Lew Welcomed But Needs To File Application To Build Schools
The district officer said, "When you are entering a house, you have to knock on the door first."
By Arisha Rozaidee — 03 Feb 2021, 01:19 PM
Ebit Lew recently issued a statement saying that he has been told to end his humanitarian mission in Sabah.
Following that, the Semporna district office clarified that they had to stop the celebrity preacher as he had not filed an application through them.
Semporna district officer Suhaimi Ejip told Sinar Harian that Ebit Lew is not barred from carrying out his mission in the area.
He said that he understood the man's kind intentions, but the district office never received any applications from his team and was just informed that Ebit Lew plans to visit the islands as well as build several schools in Semporna.
The district officer said, "When you are entering a house, you have to knock on the door first, but Ebit Lew never came to the Semporna district office"
"Instead, he only informed us of his travel schedule through his personal assistant and never met us face to face to explain his purpose. The district office is the body in charge of allowing individuals or agencies into the district," Suhaimi added.
"I welcome his presence and even appreciate it, but when you're entering a house, you must knock on the door first."
According to Sinar Harian, the authorities stressed that Ebit Lew and his team were to submit an application according to Chapter 68 of the Land Ordinance in order to build schools in the area.
Suhaimi further explained, "We offer moral support to him as Muslims but for the purpose of constructing buildings, it falls under the supervision of Sabah park management. If Ebit went through it with the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue, he still needs to refer to the district office."
"If he wanted to set up a temporary shack, then we could consider it but if he is building a permanent structure, the island has its owners and beneficiaries."
Suhaimi also urged for other bodies and agencies to not take reckless action and seek approval before preparing building materials
Meanwhile, according to Malay Mail, neither the state government nor the police have barred Ebit Lew from carrying out his humanitarian mission in Semporna.
