COMBATING SQUATTERS IN MALAYSIA: DO WE HAVE ADEQUATE POLICIES AS INSTRUMENT?

Abstract

The year 2014 had witnessed the scenario where most of the states in Malaysia pledged to declare themselves as Zero Squatter state. Thus far, most of the states in Malaysia are still striving to achieve the goal. The government has therefore aspires to reach the target by the year 2020. The Malaysian government under its 5-years National Plan has since introduced the low, medium and high cost housing categories. The housing policy was therefore designed to provide the public of all income levels, particularly the low-income groups, with affordable housing as part of an effort to eradicate squatters. However, despite the various policies, the number of squatter families remains large, especially in the urban areas. This paper therefore, intends to examine the instruments put forward by the government to eliminate squatters and assess the roles of related parties assigned to achieve the government’s mission. Through a qualitative approach, results demonstrated that Malaysia has various types of polices and guidance at both the federal and state levels in relation to low-cost housing provision. These would have supposed to help reduce the number of squatters in the country. However, to date, Malaysia is still experiencing problems with squatters. This calls for further investigation.