Dr Sim (front, centre) listens to Ting’s presentation about the Sendayan’s Sri Pertiwi affordable housing project at Aurora Height in Batu Kawah. On Dr Sim’s right is Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang.
KUCHING: Sarawakians who are interested in purchasing Sri Pertiwi housing units are welcome to submit applications to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing.
According to its minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, the eligibility for this housing scheme are that the applicants must be Malaysian citizens from Sarawak; permanent residents of Sarawak from the middle income group (M40); and that each household can only take up one unit at any given time.
Dr Sim says the Sarawak government has decided to implement the Sri Pertiwi Programme to address the ever-increasing demand for affordable housing by the M40 group, who earns gross household incomes of between RM4,000 and RM10,000 monthly.
“To ensure that the Sri Pertiwi affordable homes will be affordable to the middle-income group, the Sarawak government has capped the selling price at below RM300,000 per unit,” he said in his address for the ground-breaking ceremony of Sri Pertiwi Affordable Housing Programme at Aurora Height, Batu Kawah here yesterday.
Dr Sim said the maximum selling price for a Sri Pertiwi terraced house/townhouse would be RM270,000 for an intermediate unit, and RM290,000 for a corner unit, while for high-rise, the price would be at RM295,000 per unit.
It is stated that this type of Sri Puteri affordable house consists of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area, a dining room and kitchen.
On coverage, Dr Sim said for now, the Sri Puteri scheme would only be applicable to those living in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
The minister lauded Sendayan Jaya Sdn Bhd on being the first developer to respond to the Sarawak government’s policy on Sri Pertiwi affordable housing.
Sendayan Group of Companies director Louis Ting said despite the challenge of building good-quality affordable houses but having to sell them under controlled prices, the group was doing its best to assist the Sarawak government in achieving the vision in providing more affordable residential units to Sarawakians.
He said to ensure that more affordable houses would be available to the M40 group, Sendayan had planned for the Aurora Square to have more than 300 units of affordable houses, selling at less than RM295,000 per unit.
“To assist the M40 group realise their dream of owning a home, good financial packages in terms of margin of financing, more supportive measures or assessments in approving housing loans, and lower/preferential interest rates for Sri Pertiwi home-buyers must be readily available to them.
“We hope that the Borneo Housing Mortgage Finance Berhad and another Sarawak state-owned financial institution, Mutiara Mortgage & Credit Sdn Bhd, would be able to cater for this request, by offering tailored financing solutions to meet Sarawak needs,” he said.