18,538 new applications for PPR houses in Sabah
Published on: Saturday, August 27, 2016
Putatan: The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry has received a total of 18,538 new applications for People's Housing Project (PPR) houses in Sabah, prompting the Government to mull over suggestions to cooperate with the private sector in fulfilling the increasing demand.Its Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the idea to involve the private sector to provide housing under the PPR scheme is currently under discussion and if it succeeds, it would mean that the PPR programme will not be constrained to the Government's tight budget any longer."We have to find ways to quickly satisfy the need of the people, provide PPR houses speedily with the cooperation of the private sector," he said during a press conference after a working visit to the Ketiau PPR, here, Friday.
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The concept, he said, would be similar to the current PPR hire-purchase concept with the residents expected to pay a monthly rental on their units.Although the concept seemed pretty straightforward, Noh admitted that it had been quite a problem to extract rental money from some of the residents in the PPR units. "We have received many complaints that some residents kept defaulting on their rental. So I think we need to find ways to ensure that these residents pay their dues. We are devising ways to solve this problem and we expect to implement them by next year," he said.Noh said the ministry has completed 14,779 PPR units in the State, while additional 6,978 units are currently under construction.The Ketiau PPR in Putatan, he said, has finished construction pending electricity supply. Once the complex is lit up, house keys will be presented to the residents.
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The Ketiau PPR is one of two PPR complexes in the district, the other being Meruntum PPR. Ketiau PPR has 696 units of houses, while the Meruntum PPR has 500 units, bringing the total number of PPR units in the district to 1,196 units."I was told that PPR concept is very popular in the State. In Putatan, we have more than a thousand units but the applications are more than 5,000.
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"I think this is because in Sabah, there are still many squatters. Of course, only those who are eligible will be given the opportunity to stay in the housing projects."We have asked that the local authority display the list of names of residents for a period of time so that the public can see who will get these houses," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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