By Nancy Nais
BAU, Nov 16: The Sarawak government will withdraw a provisional land lease located next to Kampung Stenggang in order to develop the village.
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said he made the decision after considering the fact that Kampung Stenggang is very crowded.
“We received a request from people here to help them develop their village. There are more than 6,000 people living here and the population is growing.
“As you can see, it is already crowded in here and there is no space to build new infrastructure,” Abang Johari told reporters at Majlis Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat in Kampung Stenggang today.
Since there is an area right next to the village where the land is under provisional lease to a company, Abang Johari said he has instructed the Land and Survey Department to proceed with the withdrawal papers.
“I have made the decision to withdraw this provisional lease to the company in order to make room for development in this village.
“We will adopt a better and structured concept such as the Village Extension Scheme (SPK) where we can build more infrastructure to cater to the needs of their increasing population,” Abang Johari said.
The SPK concept will be similar to Sungai Bedaun or Kemunyang in Sibu.
He added that by doing this, at least the younger generation from the village can also have the opportunity to own homes.
Abang Johari also said the villagers can make use of the Sarawak government’s free Housing Deposit Assistance Scheme (HDAS), which offers a maximum RM10,000 deposit for low and middle income households to own their first home.
The scheme is also extended to those who want to build houses on their own land, where the land ownership must be allocated by the Land and Survey Department under the Resettlement Scheme (SPS) and SPK.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari also handed over a total of RM1.9 million to 17 churches through the Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR).
The churches are located in Opar (11) and Tasik Biru (6) state constituencies.
Each respective church will use the grant to construct, renovate, or the upgrade their facilities and infrastructure. — DayakDaily
