Sabah’s GRS-BN govt launches Rumah Mesra SMJ to mark two-year rule

KUALA PENYU – As part of celebrations of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) coalition’s second-year anniversary, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor launched the Rumah Mesra Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) housing aid, saying it was made possible by the state's improving revenue collection.  

Hajiji expressed hope that the free housing aid would help the poor, especially the hardcore poor, to get out of poverty as the state yielded revenue collections beyond expectation following the pandemic. 

He said 20 units would be built in all 73 state constituencies and 1,500 houses are being targeted for construction in 2022. 

“When we have the opportunity and enough funds, we will implement the Rumah Mesra SMJ to assist the people who are in difficulties.

“This will be done in all the state constituencies… we are giving for free to the people as we had promised when we won the state election two years ago.

“We want to give the poor and hardcore poor the space to change their own fate when we hand out these free houses,” he said during the launching of the housing initiative here.

Hajiji had in April announced the Rumah Mesra SMJ initiative, saying that the construction of the houses would be sourced from the state’s RM125.6 million revenue entitlement for this year.

He said the cost for each house will be around RM70,000, while excess from the special grant would be used to repair roads, suspension bridges, and other infrastructure damaged by the floods.

Hajiji said none of this would not be possible if not for the five-year SMJ Halatuju initiative that is already seeing results only two years into the GRS-BN government.

For instance, Sabah’s revenue hit RM5.4 billion in 2021, and is expected to hit RM6 billion this year, he said.

Hajiji said the state’s revenue collection performance far exceeded expectations despite the country’s transition from the Covid-19 pandemic to endemicity.

He clarified that the Rumah Mesra SMJ initiative is not the same as the Hardcore Poor Housing Project, whereby 700 units have been allocated for Sabah.

However, Hajiji said that not all of the state’s plans, such as the ongoing road upgrading works across the state and megaprojects like the underdeveloped Sipitang Oil and Gas Industry Park, could achieve immediate results.

He said he was aware of viral videos of the state’s bad road conditions, linked by netizens with the SMJ plan.

“I saw a viral video clip… this is just negative thinking. We are not like that. We are trying our best, but we can’t do the project in 24 hours or a year.

“All of these take time and what is most important is the government’s good intentions.

“But they continue to do it. Do they think the people are stupid ? We are not that stupid. Even those living in the village know that everything can be completed in two years.

“We still have another three years to go until a fresh state election is called,” he said.

The GRS-BN government was officially formed on September 29, 2020. – The Vibes, September 28, 2022