KUCHING, Oct 14: Senator Robert Lau Hui Yew is urging the Federal government to give more attention to the building of affordable housing in Sibu.
He said there is an acute lack of affordable housing in Sibu but there was no concrete plan or funding by the Federal government to deal with the real problems on the ground.
Lau, who is also Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Bawang Assan branch chairman, thus questioned the Federal government over the plan to provide affordable housing to Sibu residents.
“Sibu has a huge issue with rural urban migrants. They stay in dilapidated houses and have suffered the most from Covid-19.
“Some of them have been staying in these run-down areas for two generations already.
“How many affordable housing units are approved for Sibu and Central Region of Sarawak to cater for the rural migrants?” he said in his debate speech on the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) in Parliament today.
Lau noted that the rural community will continue to migrate to town as that is where they can find employment.
He believed that there are no jobs for them in the rural areas and the jobs available were usually low paying, involving little skills.
Lau also noted that there was no proposal in 12MP to tackle the critical issue of low-quality jobs and lack of skill training.
He added that there is a need for more technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to be set up in the central region of Sarawak. — DayakDaily
