‘Premier Residences first neighbourhood in Sarawak to have database centre’

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(From left) Goh birefs Abang Johari on Premier Residences, as Abdul Karim looks on. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

(From left) Goh birefs Abang Johari on Premier Residences, as Abdul Karim looks on. — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

KUCHING: Premier Residences in Matang Jaya here is poised to become the preferred neighbourhood in the state capital, in that it will be the first of its kind in the state to be equipped with a database centre to monitor all facilities in the area.

Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Abang Openg said the use of database centre had been a practice in Singapore, but not many housing projects in Kuala Lumpur had this.

“We want to start with Matang via Premier Residences, which will be a quality neighbourhood in the region. If the elevator is down, this information would be automatically registered in the database.

“It is a communication system to monitor whether all facilities are running well. This will be a first in Sarawak and it will gradually be introduced in other housing projects,” he said after launching the project at Matang Batu 5 here yesterday.

The mixed residential development by Premier Builders comprises 448 four-storey apartment units, 147 double-storey terraced units, 18 double-storey semi-detached units and 144 high-rise apartment units. It will cater to buyers from the low and middle-class.

Abang Johari, who is also Tourism Minister, noted that Premier Residences was strategically located in the Matang area, where future residents would have access to both Jalan Matang and Jalan 2020 via Telaga Air in getting to the town area.

He said the new housing area would be intended for buyers whose monthly income was either below RM3,000, or between RM3,000 and RM5,000.

“The four-storey apartments are for those earning below RM3,000, while those earning from RM3,000 to RM5,00 can go for the double-storey terraced houses, double-storey semi-detached houses or even high-rise apartment units.

“This housing area is also close to the Matang Metrocity Township where you have facilities like Maybank, Pesona Restaurant, Starbucks and Matang Mall.”

On another related matter, Abang Johari noted that lots of loan applications for housing were not approved by commercial banks due to certain requirements. In this respect, he advised house buyers to approach Mutiara Mortgage and Finance, run by Housing Development Corporation (HDC), to secure loans.

“Many of them (house buyers) are without payslips, which are required by most banks. But with Mutiara, you can do without payslip but you must prove that you have a bank savings account. This is how we help our house buyers.” For the record, each of the 448 four-storey apartment units is priced under RM200,000. The entire mixed housing development would be implemented in four phases over a period of seven years. The launch was also attended by Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and Premier Builders executive director Goh Yong Tat.