Association highlights issues faced by young Mirians seeking to own homes

MIRI: A local youth body is appealing to the Sarawak government to re- examine housing prices here and also to call upon contractors to build decent residential properties priced within the RM180,000-RM250,000 range per unit.

Mi r i Youth As soci at ion chairperson Matassan Rohani, in presenting this proposal during a youth conference held at Miri Resident’s Office recently, regarded the ‘First Home Ownership Scheme’ as an ongoing issue in the city.

“The average (monthly) income of our youths so far is between RM900 and RM1,300.

“I believe some of them could afford to buy a home, but the amount of houses built in Sarawak is still inadequate.

“In every housing development pl anne d by the S a r awak government, I am confident that this is also being implemented in Miri, such as the People’s Housing Project ( PPR), Housing Project for the Hardcore Poor ( PPRT), and ‘ Rumah Mesra Rakyat’ ( PeopleFriendly Homes).

“However, this is not enough – it does not fit with the demands of the youths and also the local community in that the distance of these houses is too far – not to mention, the design is not modern enough and the unit size is fairly small,” he said.

He then listed out the ‘ Youth Housing Scheme’ in Johor where a terraced unit would go for RM200,000; the First Home Project Scheme in Melaka at RM180,000 per terraced unit ; the First Home Project Scheme in Negeri Sembilan at RM250,000 per doublestorey unit; First Home Scheme for permanent residents in Putrajaya at RM63,000 per flat and First Home Scheme for permanent residents in Labuan for RM52,000 per flat, as examples of how decently-managed housing development could be in the younger homebuyers’ favour.

Moreover, Matassan said these projects targeted young married couples and used the lease- buy concept.

“Indeed, the youths should be grateful, but i f the state government could see the bigger picture by looking at the First Home schemes in other states – perhaps, they would give a clearer example.”

Matassan also believed that the problem could also be linked to contractors, who should not solely pay attention to making profits; they should also be able to incorporate the more economical methods in construction, such as the Industrialised Building System ( IBS).

“What should be the priority of the government, among other things, is ( looking at) how the First Home ownership could be simplified, either by introducing a lowerprofitrateschemebyfinancial institutions, or implementing the lease-and-buy scheme,” he said.