Local government
Upbeat Hajiji wants more houses for the poor
Federal minister to consider Sabah’s request for 20,000 low-cost homes
By Olivia Peter
Pictures by Ng Jia Xiang
Local government and housing minister Hajiji Noor is upbeat about the new year, having had a successful 2010. He has been busy building houses for the poor with federal funds. More than 20,000 low-cost houses have been built. But he wants another 20,000 under the new 10th five-year Malaysia development plan. The federal government plans 1,000 of these houses for Sabah but Chor Chee Hung, Hajiji’s federal counterpart, told chief minister Musa Aman on January 10 that he would consider more.
Chor couldn’t say if the federal government would yield to Sabah’s demand but said 1,000 houses will be built by 2013 in Sandakan’s Batu Sapi and Kampung Muhibbah partly in keeping a by-election promise that saw a landslide victory for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition last December.
“We will consider Sabah’s request,” he said after paying Musa a courtesy visit. “We’re just in the first of the new five-year plan. I’ve assured the chief minister that Sabah will not lag behind in building houses under the people’s housing project (PPR).”
Building enough houses for low-income earners is a daunting task as according to Hajiji, the demand for low-cost houses is very huge. He said the Sabah government would push for 20,000 of these houses for the next five years.
At an annual dinner for his staff last month, Hajiji said he was pleased with his ministry's performance. It has achieved its target in carrying out projects under the 9th Malaysia plan which ended last month.
Three of his district councils – Kota Marudu, Tambunan and Sipitang – have won awards for excellence in financial management.
Besides building houses for the poor, his ministry has been keeping the state clean by getting rid of rubbish through cleanliness campaigns and hosting a native law conference to give courts more bite.
The Semporna district council won last year’s innovative award for creating a bamboo trap to stop rubbish from a two-hectare (five-acre) site of the Kampung Air (water village) from flowing into the sea that teems with marine life.
The idea, said Semporna district officer Ibnu Kadir Baba, came from neighbouring Sarawak state.
“This is a trial project which started in June, but it has been very effective,” he said.
Sipitang district council came in second in the awards with its 10m-ringgit ($3.2m) esplanade. It has 20 electric sockets on its 452-metre wall that allow people who sit on adjacent benches to plug-in and surf the internet. – Insight Sabah
Posted on January 12, 2011
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