Housing remains major issue for ex-military personnel
Published on: Monday, November 11, 2019
By: Lagatah Toyos
TAWAU: The Veterans Army Cooperative Malaysia Berhad (Koveten) that was recently formed on Oct 7 is aimed at housing development for its members nationwide as the matter remains a major issue for former military personnel apart from finance.
It’s President, Datuk Sri Nik Zainorden Nik Mohamad said the housing development for retired military personnel is special or different from the others because they apply land from the government to be awarded to its members.
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“A company in collaboration with Koveten will develop the house on the ‘awarded land’ and then sell it to the member according to the development cost without making any profit,” he said.
He said currently there are 5,000 units of such houses in Melaka and Negeri Sembilan that have been consigned to them for management.
He said this to the media after a Koveten Information Ceremony at a restaurant here over the weekend. Also present were Koveten Vice President, Major (ret) A Rahman and Koveten Sponsor Sabah Branch, Juaini Buyong.
Commenting further, Nik Zainorden said the issue of ex-military housing is their main focus in Sabah and Sarawak because their living standards are still lagging particularly those who have been serving the force until late 1990s due to differences in pay and pensions.
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On Koveten’s establishment, he said, his main goal was to bring all veterans from the armed forces (air, sea and land) under one roof to facilitate aid.
“Our membership is open to former military personnel whether pensioners or non-pensioners, officers and others in the armed forces with a minimum stock of RM100 and maximum RM1,000,” he said.
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He said currently they have 15 board members and 2,906 registered members across the country with Kedah and Selangor having the most members.
“Our target is to have 100 members in each state. The first branch was in Perak, followed by Terengganu and Selangor while the establishment of branches in nine states after that include Sabah and Sarawak, which are expected to be approved this month,” he said.
In terms of membership, he said, they have no issue even if the individual is a member of other military cooperatives just as long as he or she complies with the requirement of being a Malaysian citizen and has not been declared a bankrupt.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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