Kota Kinabalu: The State Ministry of Local Government and Housing (KKTP) is looking into acquiring land banks at reasonable prices to build affordable housing.
Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB) does not have many land banks and must seek new ones that are reasonably priced.
Some prospective affordable locations can be found along Jalan Papar Lama, which is also part of the Pan Borneo Road network.
“My goal is to buy and acquire land in the neighbourhood at a cheap price so that I may build affordable houses for the people,” he said.
To a question from Sindumin who suggested that affordable houses be constructed in areas that are already equipped with infrastructure and necessary amenities, Masidi said: “In our position, there is not much land. We don’t have much choice. We have to conform to what we have in front of us.
“I would like to believe that everything is fun and nice but I have to be realistic enough that we need to make use of what is available to us.” Earlier, he said the Ministry’s goal is to improve people’s lives by improving the delivery system and fully implementing its development programmes by 2022.
This includes moving forward with the preparation of 175 low-cost housing units in Kemabong, Sukau, and Beluran, with prices ranging from RM42,000 to RM47,000 for each unit.
“My Ministry has also established the KKTP Anti-Corruption Plan 2021-2025 in response to the Government’s request to abolish and fight corruption,” he stated.
He also stated that the Ministry’s Complaints Monitoring System is nearing completion (penetration testing) before being completely implemented in early 2022.
“This method will allow the Ministry to monitor complaints submitted to the Ministry immediately online and provide an early response or feedback,” he said.
He believes that this will simplify the management of complaints to some extent and that one day the Ministry or the Local Authority’s reaction to problems faced by all taxpayers will be speedier and more responsive.
Masidi responded to a query from Nominated Assemblyman Datuk Raime Unggi by saying that his Ministry is aware that rising building material prices are one of the key causes of rising property prices.
“Additional factors contributing to rising house prices include the cost of transportation, construction labour, bank loan interest and high land prices.”
House prices are high because of these variables, which are taken into account by private housing developers,” he said.
Another factor is the extent to which all local authorities are efficient in their effort to approve the Development Plan.
“Sometimes it takes far too long for a Development Plan to be approved by local authorities. The loan has been granted and interest has begun to accrue; and when the developer takes too long to begin building, the buyer will be liable for the cost of financing when the house is finished.
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“This is why I often stress the need for all Local Authorities to be efficient,” he said. “When we remove bureaucracy in granting approvals, the cost of finance to construct the house is reduced, and this saves money not only for developers but also for the end buyer.”
He stated that it is not the responsibility of local governments to manage profit margins, but rather to ensure that the developer follows through on his promise to stay to the profit cap in order to avoid additional costs to home buyers.
In response to a question from Senallang, Masidi said that the price increase involving cement is happening everywhere and not only in Sabah.
“I compared the prices of cement in the peninsula and discovered that they are nearly identical to ours. Sarawak is, in fact, a little more expensive.
“The primary cause is the cost of clinker, which is used to make cement. Unfortunately, this clinker is only produced in the peninsula and all transactions are conducted in US dollars. If the value of our ringgit falls, the price will rise.
“The second factor is freight expenses. Some people may be unaware that the cost of freight has nearly doubled in the last few months, contributing to the rise in cement costs.
“I understand Sabah Cement Industry has made a number of actions, one of which is a buying or selling centre within the Sabah Cement Industry area.
“Because, in my experience, the pricing in Kota Kinabalu is often the same as in the Sabah Cement Industry, while the price in other districts is RM3 or RM4 more.
“In the most recent Cabinet meeting, I proposed that Sabah Cement Industry establish a retail centre so that home developers and others can continue to buy at a reasonable price, i.e. factory pricing, which is sold at Sabah Cement Industry price,” he said.
“Another way to look at it is that I believe buyers should make informed decisions. I believe we should be wise enough not to buy residences where we know the profit margin has been inflated. But, once again, we have an issue because there aren’t many affordable properties in Sabah. This is why we need to locate property at a fair cost in order to construct affordable housing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry received RM135.11 million compare to the RM132.4 million in 2020. A total of RM121.22 million is for supply expenditure while RM13.89 million is for development expenditure.
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