The state government has two housing programmes to assist the low income group in addressing their housing needs.
Since April, 2016, with the implementation of Skim Perumahan Khas Rakyat (SPEKTRA), all private developers are required to build affordable houses to the prescribed specifications in their development projects.
On 15 February, 2017, the Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg announced “Program Rumah SPEKTRA Permata”, which is designed to address the housing needs of the rural population with monthly household incomes of RM4,000 and below. It also caters for those who have residential lots either in the Land and Survey kampung extension scheme or Housing Development Corporation (HDC) development scheme.
The HDC has a target to construct 1,000 units of houses with an allocation of RM300 million throughout the state under RMK-11. The Ministry is implementing the HomeApps, the Housing Development and Management System, which was initiated by the Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg, when he was still the Minister of Housing, to digitalise the manual work processes.
The implementation of HomeApps has simplified and helped to expedite the process of case settlement, especially for house purchasers outside Kuching. The common issues raised by the claimants are late handing over of house vacant possession, late issuance of Occupation permits (OP), late issuance of Land Titles, defects, poor workmanship and non-compliance with agreed building specifications.
The HomeApps also assists in monitoring the compliance of licensed housing developers to local Ordinance and Regulations. For 2016, the system detected 276 suspected offences. For this year, the system has detected another 25 suspected cases. Out of these,12 were compounded while 271 cases were still being investigated.
The government through the Housing Development Corporation will carry out market survey to determine the housing demand and type of housing schemes that can be implemented in Repok while the affordable housing scheme will be implemented in Lingga under RMK-11.
The government has approved 794 units of affordable houses, which will be developed by HDC in stages in Samalaju. Besides, the housing needs of the people in the constituency will also be provided by the private sector, the development of which will depend on the market forces.
The federal government has five housing programmes to assist the people, particularly the low income groups, to own houses. They are PBR or Program Bantuan Rumah, PSN or Penempatan Semula Nelayan, Program Perumahan Rakyat/ Program Rumah Mesra Rakyat 1Malaysia of Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) and Rumah Bina Negara.
Program Bantuan Rumah (PBR) under the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development is targeted to cater for the housing needs of E-Kasih registered rural hardcore poor. For Sarawak, this programme offers financial assistance of up to RM68,000 for the construction of new houses or up to RM15,000 for the house repairs.
The PSN or Penempatan Semula Nelayan is a joint effort by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the state to provide proper housing for fishermen. Currently, 570 units are under construction in Pulau Bruit and Beladin.
Program Perumahan Rakyat focuses to reduce the squatters problem and to give opportunities for households with monthly incomes of RM3,000 and below to own houses. Currently, there are 2,428 units under construction in Kuching, Samarahan, Miri and Sibu.
Program Rumah Mesra Rakyat 1Malaysia, being built by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB), plans to construct 1,000 units to help families with household incomes of RM3000 and below, who do not own houses or are living in dilapidated houses. The houses will be built at a cost of between RM68,000 and RM79,000 per unit. Out of this cost, the government will subsidise RM20,000 and the balance will be financed through government loan.
The fifth federal programme is Rumah Bina Negara, which is implemented by RISDA. It provides affordable housing for the Second Generation in Rural Areas (Generasi Kedua Luar Bandar) who do not own houses and have monthly household incomes of below RM4,000.
Under the scheme, RISDA will construct the house at RM65,000. The government will subsidise RM20,000. The participant is only required to finance the balance of RM45,000.
Besides, the federal government also has two other housing programmes, namely, Program Perumahan Penjawat Awam 1Malaysia (PPA1M) and Projek Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA).
PPA1M is to assist government officers to own houses. A total of 5,406 units are being constructed in Kuching, Samarahan and Miri. Projek Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) is to cater for the housing needs of the medium income group earning between RM2,500 and RM15,000 per month. A total of 16,063 units of houses have been approved under this programme and they are at various stages of implementation in Kuching, Samarahan, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
The Minister of Local Government and Housing, Datuk Dr. Sim Kui Hian, in his winding up speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Yang di Pertua Negeri, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud during the recent sitting of the State Legislative Assembly, said the housing industry was facing challenges due to the falling prices of crude oil and commodities.
Nevertheless, the state government through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing will work tirelessly to deliver affordable houses to the people. All its relevant agencies have been making continuous efforts to upgrade the delivery system to ensure the quality of life of the people.
Datuk Dr. Sim said all agencies under his Ministry had implemented many initiatives such as Sarawak Civil Service Scorecard (SCS Scorecard), Key Focus Activity (KFA), MS ISO 9001:2015, Innovative & Creative Circle (ICC) and citizen engagement programmes and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for Council Chairmen and Councillors.
Besides, the Ministry has identified seven Local Key Result Areas that the local authorities need to focus on for the Year 2017 and 2018. They are hygienic food outlets, green and clean markets, alleviating flash floods, creating business opportunities, safe roads and local help service and clean functional and more accessible toilets.
The Local Key Result Areas were selected by the local authorities based on their rating and also from the top issues registered in Talikhidmat Local Help Service, which is designed to establish a structured and coordinated system to proactively detect problems and shortcomings on the ground before they become public complaints.
The Ministry has 24 local authorities including MBKS, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Sarawak, Sewerage Services Department Sarawak, Housing Development Corporation, Borneo Development Corporation and two federal agencies, namely, Sarawak State Health Department and Sarawak State Fire and Rescue Department.
Datuk Dr. Sim said Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam or Public Services Department Malaysia, upon the request of his Ministry, had approved 426 new posts for the Ministry and 23 local authorities. The new staff would be recruited in stages based on the financial capacity of each local authority. To date, 173 new staff had been recruited and the process was ongoing
He said some local district councils were not able to generate enough income due to small number of ratable properties in their areas. The scattered nature of settlement posed logistic challenges to them.
However, the state government, i spite of this, decided to reduce or abolish rates on properties for the benefit of the people, especially the low income groups. The assessments have been reduced on more than 400,000 resident properties while 130,000 of them are totally free of rates in 2016, causing a total reduction in council revenue by RM30.5 million.
He said his Ministry was continuously looking into ways to improve the efficiency of the local authorities in terms of processes and services so that they could generate “healthy“ cash flows and savings, which included advancing the due date of assessments to February and August instead of May and October in each year.
The local authorities will also be encouraged to embark on e-billing to reduce overhead costs in line with the Chief Minister’s vision to leapfrog into digital economy. The issues and concerns relating to the provision of infrastructures, municipal services and the occurrences of flash flood raised by members in their respective constituencies will be looked into by the respective agencies under the charge. In this regard, it will continue to seek for more funding from the federal government.
The Ministry has allocated RM61.6 million for 23 local authorities to implement 476 small to medium-sized infrastructure projects such as upgrading of street lightings, traffic lights, footpaths, public toilets, libraries, jetties and recreational parks during the year.
A total of 464 or 97.5% of the projects are at various stages of implementation and the majority of them will be completed during the year. Besides, the state government through the Rural Transformation Initiatives has also approved 114 state flood mitigation projects with a total ceiling of RM100 million.
The projects, being implemented by the local councils, Drainage and Irrigation Department and JKR, are at various stages of planning and implementation. Besides, a total of RM3.5 million was approved for the implementation of various Community Development Programmes.
Datuk Dr. Sim said the federal government had approved fund amounting to RM265 million to the Ministry for the maintenance of roads, drains and road furniture under the Malaysian Road Records Information System (MARRIS) this year.
A total of RM185 million has been distributed to various local authorities based on their registered road mileage. Besides, the Federal Ministry of Urban Well Being, Housing and Local Government approved RM27.9 million to local authorities to implement 99 minor infrastructure development projects during the year.
He said all the 99 projects were expected to be completed within this year. Besides, RM2.91 million has been approved under the Urban Poor Eradication Programme to repair 194 houses and another RM1.1 million to implement five projects under the Safe City Programme.
Datuk Dr. Sim said his Ministry had set up the Law Revision Committee with the objective of reviewing and updating laws and regulations of local authorities to meet the current needs and demands of the people. The committee is chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry and members include the legal officers of the major Councils.
He said the existing laws being studied by the Committee included Earthworks By-laws and Hotel and Lodging Houses By-laws. The review of the Earthworks By-laws was necessary in view of the importance of controlling flood and soil sedimentation in development areas and their vicinity.
He said the Hotel and Lodging Houses By-laws was also being reviewed as there was a strong need to regulate the hotel industry in support of the state tourism. There will be series of engagement sessions with the industry players before the new laws become enforceable by end of this year or early next year.
He said the two laws which had been streamlined and reviewed since 2012 were the Local Authorities (Advertisements) By-Laws, 2012 and the Local Authorities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013. Besides, the Local Authorities (Licensing of Food Establishments and Miscellaneous Trades) By-laws are already in the final draft stage.
Datuk Dr. Sim said his Ministry had also set up a Community of Practice for Valuation comprising of valuers from the Ministry and the major local authorities in the state. This serves as a platform for valuers to discuss and agree on the methods of valuation for special properties such as hotels and shopping complexes so that rates chargeable are more uniform and equitable throughout the state.
He said Miri City Council had designated 11 food truck and beverages at popular spots in the city as attractions in Miri. Besides, Miri City Council is also developing Night Markets at Jalan Brooke and Taman Luak..
The federal government has allocated RM28.21 million for flood mitigation and RM30.66 million for the River Management Programme. The Sibu Flood Mitigation Phase 3 is expected to commence by the end of this year.
The riverbank erosion and tidal flooding in Lingga, Saribas, Machan and Beting Maro as highlighted by some members are due to tidal flooding at least twice a month. Most of the houses are built on stilts.
Therefore, it is very costly to provide flood mitigation and riverbank erosion protection work for all the flood prone areas. It may be more cost effective to relocate some of the severely affected settlements to higher ground.
