KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government is considering alienating lands for a developers’ association to build residential homes that are affordable to people from the low and middle-income groups.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor called on the Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) to work with the state government to provide affordable homes for the people, while supporting the real estate sector in Sabah.
“On our part, we are willing to consider allocating government land in Sepanggar to be developed by Shareda.
“This is on condition that the prices of these houses are lowered to be within reach of the intended B40 and M40 groups who will benefit most from this development.
“This is also the state government’s commitment to progress the real estate industry,” he said at a Shareda dinner held at the Magellan Sutera Resort here last night.
His speech was delivered by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Joachim Gunsalam, who is the state housing and local government minister.
The government has allocated a RM125.6 million special grant towards the building of housing aid, called Rumah Mesra Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) housing aid, across the state.
Launched in September last year, the free housing is intended to help the poor, especially the hardcore poor, get out of poverty. The cost for each house is around RM70,000.
A total of 1,500 houses, or around 23 units in each of Sabah’s 73 state constituencies, are to be built under the housing aid programme.
The source of funds for Rumah Mesra SMJ from the revenue collected by the federal government from Sabah as stated under Article 112C of the federal constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which stipulates Sabah was entitled to 40% of its annual net revenue.
The federal government, however, has not decided on a new formula for the special grant.
The current formula is now subject to negotiations between Sabah and the federal government, in accordance with Article 112D of the federal constitution.
Rumah Mesra SMJ is the only known initiative that has seen the state’s entitlement used directly to benefit the people of Sabah to date. Hajiji said that it is a priority for the low-income group to be able to get housing.
In another development, he vowed to table the revised Sabah version of the Malaysia MySecond Home Programme (SMM2H) in the state assembly soon.
He expressed confidence that the relaxed requirements for SMM2H will attract more foreigners into the state.
He said the state is also keen on a proposal to allow Bumiputera housebuyers to sell their properties, enabling them to profit from the proceeds of their real estate sales while still retaining the special 5% discount on designated lots.
Such matters are now being deliberated, said Hajiji. A release period of between zero and five years is now being considered on the matter. – The Vibes, November 4, 2023
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