Published on: Sunday, February 07, 2010 |
Kota Kinabalu: At least 20,000 low-cost houses are needed in Sabah over the next five years if the State's perennial problem of squatters is to be addressed.
Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Hajiji Noor, said this number of houses, which would also shelter thousands of families under the low-income bracket, was proposed to the Federal Government for implementation under the 10th Malaysia Plan.
"The demand for affordable housing is acute in major towns, including Tawau and Sandakan, apart from Kota Kinabalu.
"Special committees headed by local council presidents are continuously going through applications from the many people applying for low-cost housing," he said.
Towards this end, he said the Lahad Datu District Council had just completed the screening of applications for about 1,000 new low-cost housing in the East Coast district, adding those selected were starting to move into their units.
Hajiji also said about 500 families had begun to move into their newly completed low-cost houses in Tawau, pointing out another 500 housing units had yet to be handed to the Municipal Council there by the federal authorities.
Some qualified families, he said, however, had to delay uprooting to their new houses because they had to save up for the required deposit of about RM600.
"So we have to give them some leeway to come up with the money as for some, the amount is quite high," he said.
Housing and Local Government Deputy Minister, Datuk Lajim Ukin, had recently said the local authorities in Sabah must aggressively promote low-cost housing units to eligible tenants.
He added that there were about 2,000 low-cost houses still unoccupied under the People's Housing Project (PPR) scheme Statewide.
