Date for Sandakan to be upgraded to city council changed
SANDAKAN: Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Jaujan Sambakong said the date for Sandakan Municipal Council (SMC) to be upgraded to Sandakan City Council will be announced soon.
The change, previously set to be on July 1, 2018 has changed and Jaujan said he wanted to ensure that the Sandakan Municipal Council management and administration were fully prepared before they announce the date for it to be named as a city council.
He said this after a meeting with SMC board members and administration personnel at the SMC building here yesterday.
"After the briefing session, I found that SMC involves a very big area, and it is not balanced with the number of staff SMC currently has. In order to become a city council, the number of staff needs to be increased.
"Administration management is being carried out accordingly, but we will ensure that all management aspects will be enhanced in making Sandakan a city council," he said.
Meanwhile, Jaujan who is also a Deputy Chief Minister, said his ministry would bring the 'rent-to-own' scheme for the People's Housing Project (PPR) in Sabah which was promised to all PPR residents in Sabah by the previous government, to the attention of the federal government to be implemented.
He said the 'rent-to-own' scheme would not only ease the burden of the people, but also the residents would become more responsible in taking care of the house once they know that they were not renting, but renting to own it.
He said all issues regarding PPR would be brought to the cabinet and the federal government's attention.
When asked if the property market price in Sabah should be cheaper than the price in the Peninsular, Jaujan agreed and said Sabah had bigger land and it was only fair that Sabah had cheaper land and property prices than the Peninsular which had limited land space.
However, Jaujan said he would not comment further on the issue as he had yet to evaluate the data on the price comparison between Sabah and the peninsula.
Also present were Health and People's Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wong Tien Fatt, Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister George Hiew, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Department Arifin Asgali, SMC deputy president Haji Mohd Hamsan Awang Supain, permanent secretary of Local Government and Housing Ministry, Datuk Ginun Yangus, deputy permanent secretary of Local Government and Housing Ministry, Wong Fook Tin and Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong Ket Kiun.