KOTA KINABALU – Higher freight charges and cost of clinker have contributed to increased cement prices in Sabah, the state assembly was told yesterday.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that freight charges to Sabah have gone up nearly twofold the last couple of months, and that the state does not control the prices of clinker as it is traded in the international market.
The higher cost of cement is happening across Malaysia. In Peninsular Malaysia right now, it is almost the same as Sabah, while in Sarawak, the price is a bit higher than ours.
“The price of clinker is only produced in Peninsular Malaysia and all transactions are done in US dollars.
“This means if our ringgit falls, the cost will be much higher,” said Masidi during his ministerial winding-up speech, here yesterday.
Masidi said this in response to several side questions posed by Sabah opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan) who had asked about the measures taken by the state government to mitigate cement prices and the surging prices of houses.
To deal with the problem, Masidi said Cement Industries (Sabah) has proposed to set up a one-stop buying centre at its factory to ensure developers and others could buy cement at factory prices.
“I believe the prices of cement in Kota Kinabalu when transported to other areas in Sabah have gone up by around RM3.
“In the previous cabinet meeting, I proposed a retail buying centre so buyers can buy at factory prices,” he said.
Masidi said there’s a need to cut the cost of middlemen, which had contributed to the higher cost of such materials, as well as cutting the cost of building affordable homes.
The Karanaan assemblyman has noted that house prices near the city centre are so expensive, some priced much higher than homes in Kuala Lumpur.
He said when he took over as the housing minister, he had found that the state housing agency, LPPB, does not have much land bank to build affordable homes.
“We have to look for more land for LPPB. I may have found one place. Just probably, the land prices are still reasonable. I'm referring to the land on the old Papar road, which is also along the new Pan Borneo highway,” said Masidi.
Masidi said if the state would be able to acquire the land at a good price along the old Papar road, it could build affordable homes.
He said although Papar is quite a distance from the city, driving time would be shortened and improved once the Pan Borneo Highway is completed.
The distance may be huge, but with shortened driving distance made available through the Pan Borneo Highway, homeowners would have better connectivity.”
“This is what I believe. We have to buy land outside of the city centre, but with better road connectivity, the drive from home to work for many workers would be easy,” he said. – The Vibes, December 9, 2021
