Dr Abdul Rahman speaking to reporters after a site visit to the Darul Hana Housing Development Project site this morning.
KUCHING: Primary school SK Pulo in Semarang will be relocated to the Darul Hana Housing Development area once the proposal by the state government is approved by the Education Department.
Assistant Utilities Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi said the relocation of the school would be in conjunction with the Seberang Hilir relocation programme to the Darul Hana Housing Development Project near Jalan Tun Salahuddin in Petra Jaya here.
“The Education Department will come up with a documentation and proposed design for the new school building first, then we (state government) will give our input to the department.
“We are aiming for the new SK Pulo school building to be a smart school. A five-acre plot in Block 4 of the Darul Hana Housing area has been identified for the new school building.
“There are about 800 students in the current SK Pulo,” he said when updating reporters on the progress of the Darul Hana Housing Development Project after a site visit here this morning.
The cost for the proposed new school building was undetermined yet, until the Education Department has come up with the documentation and design, Dr Abdul Rahman added.
Other facilities to be developed in the Darul Hana Housing Development Project would be a RM3 million Darul Hana Malay Heritage Museum to preserve the heritage of Seberang Hilir villages that would cease to exist once the housing project is fully completed in at least 10 years time, he said.
The museum was proposed by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg earlier this year as part of the 11th Malaysia Plan development projects.
Another component in the project would be the proposed RM8.6 million Islamic Garden around the present Darul Hana Mosque.
The almost completed double-storey terrace houses at Block A of the Darul Hana Housing Development site.
On the overall progress of the Darul Hana Housing Development Project, Dr Abdul Rahman said the first phase of the project was expected to be completed in the third quarter of next year.
After that, the first 564 households from three Seberang Hilir villages – Kampung Panglima Seman Lama, Kampung Semarang and Kampung Pulo Ulu were expected to move into their new homes here.
All in all, he added, the whole Darul Hana Housing Development Project was expected to be completed within at least 10 years from now, involving some 2,640 households from 13 villages in Seberang Hilir, with a population of about 16,655 people.
Abdul Rahman explained that the houses were exclusively for the 2,649 households from Seberang Hilir and were not for sale to outsiders.
He said the resettled villagers would not need to pay a single sen for their new houses as they would be compensated with houses of equal value to their present properties in Seberang Hilir.
“This is the best approach to solve the issue where the second generation of Seberang Hilir could not afford their own houses due to the rising cost of houses.
“This will give them the opportunity to own their own homes,” he said.
Dr Abdul Rahman said 14 types of houses were being developed for Darul Hana Housing, namely double-storey semi-detached, double-storey terrace, single-storey terrace, and bungalows to name a few.
All in all, the cost of the Darul Hana Housing Development project was about RM212 million, where RM122 was for the construction of the houses while RM90 was for the ground works including drainage, electricity and other basic facilities, he added.
The Darul Hana Housing Development Project is spearheaded by the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA), with the Sarawak Housing Corporation (HDC) as the developer and Daya Builders Sdn Bhd as the main contractor, and funded by the state government.