‘Cost, land availability among criteria for low-cost houses’

December 10, 2015

THE COST and availability of land are among the factors the state government had to look into to construct low-cost houses within the city centre.

Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said if the government through its agencies were to acquire lands that are situated within the city, house buyers would have to pay quite a high compensation for their house.

“This would in a way increase the cost of development or construction for these houses which would not be feasible for the government to do and that’s why most of the low-cost houses in the state are placed near to the fringe of the city,” he said when responding to a question by David Wong Kee Woan (DAP-Pelawan) on the distance of low-cost houses under the 11th Malaysia Plan from city centre at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) yesterday.

Abdul Karim said there was no specific mileage on how far low-cost houses should be built as there were some that were built within the city centre.

“But most of the time, we will try to look for landed property that are within the fringe of the city. That’s why in Kuching, you see a lot of them in Matang, Batu Gong as well as many that are coming up in Demak whereas in Sibu, you can see them in Rantau Panjang and Sibu Jaya.”

On a related question from Yap Hoi Liong (DAP-Dudong) regarding the number of low-cost houses built throughout the state from 2015 to 2017, Abdul Karim said various state and federal agencies had completed the building of 500 units of low-cost houses in Miri this year while a total of 439 low-cost houses and 113 People Friendly Houses (Rumah Mesra Rakyat) in Kuching would be completed next year.

“Under the 11th Malaysia Plan, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has proposed to build 8,361 units of low-cost houses in Kuching, 405 units in Sibu, 1,512 units in Bintulu, 1,905 units in Miri, 372 units in Mukah, 500 units in Limbang, 380 units in Kapit and 98 units in Kanowit.

“However, the implementation of these projects is subject to availability of fund approved by the government,” he noted.

He added that for the private sector, the number of low-cost houses to be built in future would depend on the private sector’s application.

“For 2015, the number of approved low-cost houses under the private sector as at November in Kuching is 27 units and Bintulu 45 units. There was no application approved yet for Sibu, Miri, Mukah, Limbang and Kapit.

This prompted Yap to question why no applications were approved for Sibu, which led Abdul Karim to retort that the approval for low-cost housing depended on the demand.

“As it is, if you were to check in Sibu, there are low-cost houses already constructed in Rantau Panjang and Sibu Jaya. I’m not too sure if you’ve got your record right on this, that there’s no approval for Sibu,” he remarked.

“My answer earlier on was that there’s no application for Sibu but there are low-cost houses being constructed in Sibu and I can say that Sibu has got quite a big chunk of low-cost houses that have been approved,” he added.

On what measures the state government would take to safeguard the quality of low-cost houses, Abdul Karim said two mechanisms were used to achieve this.

“The first mechanism is to ensure that at the planning approval stage, low-cost houses fulfil the requirements of the Development Control Standard (DCS) and other planning requirements in terms of sizes of the houses, setbacks, roading, open spaces, amenities and facilities.”

“The second mechanism is at the Building Approval stage where building design and structure are regulated through the Building Ordinance and issuance of Occupation Permit (OP). The issuance of OP will be done once the Qualified Submitting Person (QSP) certifies that the construction and completion are in compliance with the approved plan.”

Ceiling prices, govt initiatives to ensure affordable housing

December 10, 2015

KUCHING: Housing prices are expected to keep soaring despite the government’s continued efforts to strive for a balance between demand and supply by constructing more affordable houses.

Assistant Minister for Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah pointed out that the state government had launched several initiatives to monitor housing prices particularly affordable housing intended for the low-income group.

To ensure that people could own a house, he said ceiling prices had been set for low-cost houses at RM50,400 per intermediate unit and RM59,220 per corner unit.

“For medium-cost houses, we have fixed RM80,000 for intermediate units and RM100,000 for corner lots. In addition, we have also launched projects such as Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR), Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR), Rumah Mampu Milik (PMM), MyHome Scheme and Program Perumahan Penjawat Awam 1Malaysia.”

Sarawak BN rep says high time to revisit MA63

December 9, 2015

Barisan Nasional (BN) Sarawak denies that it’s trying to jump on the “popularity bandwagon” created by the Opposition on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and claims that in fact Chief Minister Adenan Satem led the way.

KUCHING: An assemblyman who seconded a motion in the Sarawak Assembly calling on the Federal Government to comply with the intentions of the Founding Fathers in Borneo, as expressed in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), said that it (compliance) was an idea whose time has come.

“It’s high time to revisit the agreement. There’s increasing pressure on the Sarawak Government in the social media. People are raising the MA63 and asking all sorts of questions. The government has to respond.”

Asajaya assemblyman Abdul Karim Hamzah, also the Assistant Minister of Housing, disclosed that the Sarawak Government has since set up many committees on MA63.

He pointed out that it cannot be denied that there was a lot of unhappiness in Sarawak about the territory’s state of under-development despite over half a century of Federation with the peninsula and Sabah. “There are also questions on oil and gas rights, education, the status of the English language and freedom of worship. We are very unhappy that Sarawak, like Sabah, has been dragged into the Allah issue in the peninsula.”

Abdul Karim was explaining the motion introduced this week by Baleh assemblyman James Masing, also Sarawak Minister for Land Development. “After more than 50 years, there are various factors that ought to be looked into and considered.”

“Has MA63 been complied with?”

The Assistant Minister said that he doesn’t want to dwell on areas that have been eroded over the years and added that these have been raised by Chief Minister Adenan Satem. “Adenan has raised these issues in the State Assembly, in public in Sarawak and in the peninsula.”

Cabaran ketua masyarakat di luar bandar getir

December 09, 2016

Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah bergambar bersama-sama dengan seorang ketua masyarakat yang baru dilantik.

KUCHING: Ketua-ketua masyarakat di luar bandar menghadapi cabaran yang lebih mencabar dalam menjalankan tanggungjawab mereka.

Menurut Menteri Muda Pembangunan Belia (Bandar) Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, hampir semua perkara yang berlaku di kampung ataupun kawasan akan dilaporkan kepada mereka untuk perhatian ataupun tindakan susulan.

Adakalanya mereka terpaksa mengenepikan keperluan ekonomi demi menunaikan tanggungjawab mereka sebagai ketua masyarakat, katanya ketika berucap di Majlis Malam Penghargaan Ketua Masyarakat dan Ketua Kaum Kawasan P197 Kota Samarahan di hotel di sini malam tadi.

Beliau kemudiannya menambah, atas sebab itulah beliau merasa bangga dengan komitmen yang tinggi yang ditunjukkan oleh ketua-ketua masyarakat di kawasan Parlimen Kota Samarahan.

Menyentuh mengenai persaraan ketua-ketua masyarakat, Abdul Karim berkata perkhidmatan sebagai ketua masyarakat hanya tidak diteruskan atas faktor-faktor seperti kesihatan, kehendak masyarakat setempat dan keperluan situasi.

Walau bagaimanapun, beliau menegaskan kerajaan Barisan Nasional seringkali memberi tempoh perkhidmatan yang agak panjang kepada ketua-ketua masyarakat kerana ia akur bahawa mereka memerlu masa untuk berada di tahap optimum.

Abdul Karim, yang merupakan ADUN Asajaya, turut menggesa agar Pejabat Residen dan Daerah berusaha untuk mengisi kekosongan jawatan ketua-ketuamasyarakat secepat yang mungkin untuk mengurangkan tempoh masa kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh masyarakat setempat disebabkan ketiadaan ketua-ketua masyarakat.

'Not wrong to revisit Malaysia Agreement'

December 09, 2015

THAT’S HILARIOUS: Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Hamzah (left) shares a light moment with Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg prior to attending the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting yesterday. — Photo by Tan Song Wei

IT is not wrong for the state to revisit what its forefathers have agreed to when the Malaysia Agreement was penned on July 9, 1963.

Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Hamzah said there were various factors that ought to be looked into especially when Sarawak attained independence through Malaysia more than 50 years ago.

“What they have agreed to at that time, what safeguards the state has got, whether these terms and conditions they have agreed to at that moment of time…were they followed through by the leaders of post Malaysia after the leaders that helmed this beloved nation of ours through the years?

“These are natural questions that come to us especially now with the increase in social media where people are able to access information easier and with a population with a good eduction background, there’s a lot of questions being asked,” he said in his debate to support the motion calling on the state government to be fully committed in safeguarding the special interest of the state which was tabled by Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing at the State Legislative Assembly yesterday.

Abdul Karim (BN Asajaya), who seconded the motion, said Sarawakians had experienced many levels of unhappiness throughout the years on issues concerning the rate of infrastructure such as the condition of schools, hospitals, clinics, roads, electricity and clean water supplies in the state, and the insufficient funding given by the federal government among others.

“There is also unhappiness of certain policies such as the usage of English, the use of the word ‘Allah’, and the right to practise one’s faith through the years as well as unhappiness over erosions of the rights of our territory especially on the ‘continental shelf’ which even before we formed Malaysia, are recognised as ours.”

“I won’t go into the very details on what are the areas that have been eroded but suffice for me to say that some of these matters have been highlighted by Our Right Honourable Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem) in his speeches across the state, in Peninsular Malaysia as well as by members of this august House,” he said.