1MALAYSIA SIGN: Ibrahim (fourth left), Zulkifeli (first row, second right) and the others in front of a new house for Johny Ala and his family (centre).
SERIAN: It was coincidence that yesterday’s handover of houses to several poor families in villages here was done so close to the coming state election.
This was stressed yesterday by Rural and Regional Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Ibrahim Muhamad when asked by reporters the timing of the handover ceremony.
He said these houses, built under National Blue Ocean Strategy 3 (NBOS3) Project in collaboration with the army, were completed end of March after work commenced in February.
“This is the first of the Blue Ocean Strategy project completed in Sarawak, and it is under the National Key Results Area (NKRA).
“We only discussed with the army on this cooperation late last year, and we can only complete it now.
That is why I must say here that it has nothing to do with the state election, and similar projects are also implemented in the peninsula,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters after the NBOS3’s housing assistance project handover of four houses to selected families at Kampung Bunan Gega and Kampung Bunan Pondok yesterday.
Also present were army chief General Datuk Seri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin and 1Division Infantry commanding officer Major- General Datuk Awie Suboh.
The function was held at Bunan Gega, a village in Kedup constituency which has been identified by the Election Commission as one of the nine hot seats, meaning the place will see intense campaigning by both sides of the political divide.
On a related matter, Ibrahim said KKLW had been allocated RM6.4 billion, of which RM3 billion was for various projects in Sarawak under the NKRA.
While most of the projects are to be implemented by contractors, some would be done by the army through the Jiwa Murni programme especially in remote and rural places.
“The army can get the job done fast and contribute to cost saving.
A house built by a contractor may take three to four months and cost RM44,000 but the army can build it within 30 days, costing only RM38,000 with their workmanship,” he said.
He revealed that the ministry would be involved in building 3,183 houses for the poor in Sarawak with a budget of RM103 million.
He said 60 per cent of houses would be new while the remaining 40 houses to be refurbished. Meanwhile, the families of Johny Ala, Patrick Lunga, Michael Jajol in Bunan Gega and Juwim Nyaie in Bunan Pondok are now living in better houses thanks to the project.
Two other families at Mentu Tapu are beneficiaries of the same project.
Zulkifeli, speaking on behalf of the army, said building better houses for the poor was in line with the 1Malaysia concept promoted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“This is one of the products of the 1Malaysia concept,” he said.