Submit land list for affordable housing to Putrajaya, MP urges
I believe there are plenty of state land in Puncak Borneo which can be used to develop affordable houses. Willie Mongin, Puncak Borneo MP
KUCHING: Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin is calling on the Sarawak government to respond to Putrajaya’s request for every state to submit its list of land for the purpose of building affordable housing.
He believes there are many Sarawakians who are looking forward to owning their own home, adding the state must carry out its responsibility by the providing the land list for that purpose.
In this regard, he said some of the land in Puncak Borneo must be included in the list to enable people in the constituency to benefit from the programme.
“I believe there are plenty of state land in Puncak Borneo which can be used to develop affordable houses.
“Puncak Borneo is considered a sub- urban constituency and I believe many people in the area are longing to own a good and affordable home,” he said.
Willie was responding to a call by Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin for state governments to submit their respective list of land that will be used to build affordable housing, by the end of the month.
“No land, no affordable housing,” she was quoted as saying by a national daily at a press conference after the government-industry open dialogue on housing organised by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute recently.
According to the report, Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Penang have already submitted their respective location list.
The ideal land size should be 10 acres or larger. To- date, the smallest acreage submitted for development is 2.7 acres.
Because land is a state matter, the strategy is for the states to put forward the location by providing the land, which would then be developed by the federal government.
On July 21, Zuraida had urged state governments to support the construction of affordable homes by providing the sites to build the properties.
“I place the responsibility on the state governments to provide the site for us to build houses for its people,” she told Bernama News Channel’s Ruang Bicara programme.
She said such efforts by the state authorities can help reduce the cost of the affordable homes.