KUCHING, Sept 24: The selling price of houses under the Public Housing Project (PPR) in Sarawak are in line with the ‘Rumah Mampu Milik’ (Affordable Homes) policy approved by the State Planning Authority.
Housing Development Corporation (HDC) chief executive officer Mohd Asman Ahmad said the policy, which came into effect since 2011, also ensure no additional cost being charged.
Because of the increased costs in building material and logistic, the State cabinet has streamlined the selling price of low-cost housing at RM50,400 each for middle units and RM59,200 each for corner units, he explained.
“These new prices also applies to low cost housing carried out by HDC. When the sale of PPR is implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in Sarawak, we are applying the same pricing as to what have been practised,” Mohd Asman said in a press statement.
He was responding to Parti Keadilan Rakyat national women’s vice chief Voon Shiak Ni, who questioned why the Sarawak government charges an extra 10 per cent for these houses, compared to those sold in states in Peninsular Malaysia.
On PPR cost that were built and paid for by the ministry, he explained that the first PPR was completed in 2015 and handed over to HDC in 2017.
“Upon completion of the project, it took more than 25 months for HDC to handover the houses due to difficulty of buyers in obtaining end-financing from the financial institution,” he said
According to Mohd Asman, the delay caused HDC to bear the cost of repair works and rewiring, aside from paying for capital contributions to utility agencies.
Mutiara Mortgage and Credit Sdn Bhd (HDC’s wholly-owned subsidiary company) provides end-financing to the home buyers.
PPR in Sarawak is funded by the federal ministry and managed by HDC, which requires the state government (through HDC) to prepare land for the development of PPR. — DayakDaily
