DBKU council member Datuk Wee Hong Seng (second left), Abdul Wahap (third left) and others looking at the progress of the sewage system at India Street yesterday. — Photo by Mohd Rais Sanusi KUCHING: India Street here will be the first in the country to have a centralised sewage system. Datuk Bandar of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai said this meant all housing and commercial centres’ waste would go through a central system. The waste then would go through a treatment plant in Bintawa before discharge, he said. “This system is similar to those in London and Paris. The waste from new buildings only need to be connected into the system. This will add tremendous value to new properties,” he told a press conference ...

KUCHING: Sarawak has a real potential to become a hub for modular housing for the Asean region if the proposal to form a joint-venture with a China-based company that specialises in such expertise comes to fruition next year. Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said he had high hopes that the China-based company, Foshan Conceiving Board Manufacturing Co, Ltd Guangdong, would ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sarawak Housing Corporation (HC) on the proposed joint-venture next year. He added that his ministry had alienated a piece of land which could be used for research and development (R&D) and a factory to produce pre-fabricated houses. “Once we have a joint-venture entity through a MoU which we hope would materialise next year, we can ...

KUCHING: The Ministry of Housing will launch a Special Housing Loan Scheme next year to assist in financing the housing needs of the lower income group. According to Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, the scheme would be launched once all technicalities had been finalised and the management team had been put in place. “The scheme shall be part and parcel of the new approach whereby the provision of affordable housing by the government will be tied up with and supplemented by end-financing facility for house buyers. “Thus, at both ends of the housing spectrum, that is the supply side on one part and the financing element on the other, are being addressed simultaneously with this integrated approach,” he said when winding up the speech ...

THE state government has decided to increase the loan ceiling of the Individual Longhouse Loan Scheme from RM10,000 per door to RM15,000 per door in view of the increase of prices of construction material. However, Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said there were no plans to increase the loan limit more than the maximum amount as this would reduce the number of applications benefitting from the scheme which has a limited annual allocation. According to him, since the scheme was introduced in 1976, a total of 567 longhouses had been built and 13,105 doors upgraded through an allocation of RM87.6 million as of Oct 2014. “This year alone, RM11.3 million have been approved for 34 longhouses comprising 753 doors under the longhouse reconstruction or upgrading ...

HOUSING Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg has expressed his support towards Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem in championing the integrity pledge. Prior to concluding his winding-up speech for the ministry yesterday, he told the august house that he would stand by the chief minister in his efforts towards leading a clean and responsible government. “Corruption has reached a serious level in the economic sector and should be tackled before it gets worse. “It is cancerous and a curse to society and with that being said, I strongly support the chief minister in his efforts to fight corruption,” Abang Johari said, likening corruption to cancer.

THE Housing Development Corporation (HDC) under the Ministry of Housing will develop and construct 3,508 affordable housing units at several main locations throughout the state within the next three years. Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said this was to ensure that the house prices can be controlled indirectly through the regulation of house prices which were lower than market prices based on the locality of the particular project. “It is also to cater to the demand and needs from middle income groups who face difficulties in purchasing a house in the open market,” he told the august house when delivering his winding-up speech yesterday. He said 10 locations have since been identified for this project; namely at Muara Tebas, Kuching (404 units); ...

KUCHING: The state government is taking numerous steps to help solve the issue of high housing prices in the state. Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said among others the government had implemented a policy to control the prices of low and medium cost houses developed by the private sector. “This is to ensure that the low and medium income group can afford to own houses. The ceiling price fixed by the government for low cost is RM50,400 (intermediate) and RM59,220 (corner houses) while for medium cost the ceiling price fixed by the government is RM80,000 per unit for intermediate and RM100,000 for corners,” he said. He said to prevent the prices of houses from increasing due to demand and supply the government, together with the private ...

AN additional 68 affordable homes under the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) will be built in Saratok next year. These units are in addition to the 621 units of affordable homes built in the district. “The Housing Ministry has also directed Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to conduct studies to see if there is a need to build more houses in Saratok,” Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said in response to a supplementary question from Ali Biju (PKR-Krian) during the Q&A session yesterday. He explained the criteria to apply for PPR and Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) houses. For houses under PPR scheme, an individual earning between RM650 and RM2,999 and aged between 18 and 65 years old is eligible to apply. He must also be ...

Sarawak continued to give priority to development in its annual budget to ensure sustainable development, especially in the rural areas, said Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh. He described the proposed State Budget 2015 tabled in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) yesterday as not only development-oriented but also a rural-biased. Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh (right) glancing through the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) notes of proceedings alongside Pantai Damai assemblyman Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi prior to attending the DUN sitting yesterday. “It is a development-oriented budget as 71 percent goes to development while 29 per cent to recurrent expenditure. “It is also a rural-biased budget with more than 50 percent of the funds ...

Sheda president Datuk Zaidi Ahmad (right) presents a memento to Abang Johari. KUCHING: The government will continue to allocate funds and resources for the building of affordable houses, assured Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem. For instance, 2,000 units of such houses would be developed next year under the People’s Housing Scheme for low-income earners, he said. “The various special measures to make home ownership more attractive as announced by the prime minister in Budget 2015 are also a testimony of the government’s strong commitment in addressing housing affordability issue. “The state government, through the Ministry of Housing, will continue to lobby hard for greater allocation to be given to Sarawak to build more affordable ...